Native to waters in Mississippi, the Blue Catfish was introduced to the Chesapeake Bay to please fishermen in the 70s. But it’s now an invasive species and its fishing encouraged, and that encouragement was brought to the capital Wednesday as Brad Kutner reports.
The walkway between the capital and the General Assembly Building, known as Darden Garden, smelled incredible as legislators and their staff lined up to partake in a bounty of delicious fried Blue Catfish.
Owen Henson is with the Virginia Marine Products Board. He said the invasive species has been a problem since it was introduced to the Chesapeake Bay 50 years ago.
“Since then, it's taken over the rockfish, blue crab, stuff that we like to eat," Henson said of the group's annual trip to the legislature. "Part of it is to see more of the invasive species eaten and the other part is to raise awareness about the waterman’s association and the Virginia marine products board, what we’re doing for the commercial industry.”
And the deep-fried awareness campaign worked.
“So, this is amazing, this is one of my most favorite times of Session,” Delegate Jason Ballard, from the New River Valley, said just before he took a bite. And after:
“Of course, we appreciate this industry, actually surviving this to us so we can experience something, from my neck of the woods that we don’t often to get experience, which is fresh, really good seafood,” Ballard told Radio IQ.
It worked on Fairfax Delegate Marcus Simon too.
“If anyone can hear, I’m eating it right now and it's delicious. Amazing seafood," Simon said. "We’re good influencers for our districts; we need to go back and tell everybody to start all the catfish. Get it out of the waterways and into our bellies.”
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
