Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 12 June 2018
Can't beat 'em? Eat 'em! Berlin captures, cooks crayfish

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER declared them suitable for
BERLIN (AP) — In the heart consumption. Hidde then
of Germany's largest city, came out of early retire-
fisherman Klaus Hidde ment to battle the Ameri-
wades through the shallow can invaders.
ponds and creeks of Britzer "I thought it would be a
Garten park shortly after good idea to help my son's
dawn to check his 17 traps. fishing business and make a
The spoils are rich. As he few extra bucks getting the
shakes out the nets, hun- crayfish out of the water,"
dreds of crayfish tumble said the white-haired Ber-
into his basket. liner, wearing olive-green
The 63-year-old, whose rubber fishing waders.
family has fished for gener- On a good day, he hauls
ations, is the spearhead of in as many as 400 crayfish.
the city's new effort to rid its He says he's plucked 10,000
waters of the invasive crus- from the city's waters this
tacean, putting him in the year so far.
unlikely position of practic- In addition to his 17 traps in
ing his trade in the middle Britzer Garten in southwest-
of the bustling capital. ern Berlin, he has another
"To catch crayfish some 500 12 traps in Tiergarten park.
meters away from the Bran- "Eventually, I'm planning
denburg Gate, that's quite to sell the most beautiful
sensational," he mused, re- ones for two or three euros
ferring to the landmark next ($2.35-$3.55) per piece,"
to Tiergarten park, where Hidde said. For now, he
his other traps were set as only has a deal with a
he held up a 12-centimeter wholesale purchaser who
(4.7-inch) animal with two buys the animals for 13 eu-
big claws. ros per kilogram (about $7
Crayfish, indigenous to the a pound) from him and
southern U.S. and Mexico, then resells them at a Ber-
were likely introduced into In this Friday, June 1, 2018 photo, eats American Crayfish, captured in a park in Berlin at the lin gourmet market hall for
the German capital's eco- Market Hall 9 at the district Kreuzberg. 29 euros a kilogram ($15.50
system a few years ago Associated Press per pound).
after aquarium pets were Hidde plans to sell the deli-
dumped into local rivers, could, but still was unable Mark Runge, a customer the park as they raised their cacy on sandwiches with
but their population has to slow the onslaught. enjoying crayfish at a stall red-dotted claws up to the mayonnaise and lemon
boomed over the past two Overwhelmed by the num- in the Kreuzberg neighbor- sky. juice at his own fish stand
years after particularly mild bers and dismayed by the hood's trendy Market Hall And when it rained, the during concerts and festi-
winters. futility and waste of the No. 9. He described the animals became espe- vals in Berlin this summer.
The invasive animal, com- crayfish cull, Berlin wildlife taste as "somewhere be- cially active, leaving their At Market Hall No. 9, fish
monly known as Louisiana commissioner Derk Ehlert in- tween lobster and shrimp." home ponds and migrating stand owner Matthias En-
Crayfish, or procambarus stead turned to the private "I would say this animal be- in small groups across city gels said the crayfish he
clarkii in Latin, has been sector. He granted Hidde longs on the plate because streets to yet-uninhabited has on crushed ice have
crowding out the native an exclusive license to col- it's an invasive species," rivers and lakes. piqued the interest of
"Edelkrebs" crayfish popu- lect as many of the crusta- Runge said. Following last year's failed many customers. "It's the
lation and has also intro- ceans as he could and sell As crayfish started popping attempt to get rid of them, right product for people
duced a fungus, common- them to local restaurants. up downtown, urbanites Ehlert said his office started who like sustainability and
ly known as the crayfish They're catching on quickly started calling city officials, looking into whether these regional food," Engels said.
plague, which has been at some of the city's hippest telling them about alleged crayfish were suitable for Still, it's not clear how long
harming the already-en- venues and have acquired "scorpions" and "shrimp" the dinner table. Berlin's crayfish culinary
dangered German crusta- the nickname "Berlin lob- seen crawling across bike "We carefully examined the heyday will last, since the
cean. ster" for their bright red ap- paths in Berlin's lush Tiergar- animals regarding possible real point of the project is
Last year, the city caught pearance when cooked. ten park. heavy metals," Ehlert said. to eliminate the species
and destroyed 4,000 of "It is hard work and the Photographers snapped Once experts determined from the city's waters.
the Louisiana Crayfish and meat pieces aren't as big pictures of auburn-colored the crayfish weren't con- But from his experience so
introduced eels, a natural as with other crustaceans, crayfish in front of the Span- taminated with any harm- far, Ehlert said the crafty
predator, to eat all they but it's a lot of fun," said ish embassy on the edge of ful substances, the city crustacean is likely to be
around for a while.
"Obviously we are trying to
get rid of the animals and
in an isolated place, like an
enclosed pond, the chanc-
es are pretty good," he said.
"But in places like Berlin's
Tiergarten, where there is a
good flow of water, where
the animals can migrate, it
will be difficult to get rid of
them permanently."q