The Chesapeake Bay's Newest Resident ... Stone Crabs

It stands as a "spit" of land, a peninsula jutting out from the shore of Norfolk, Virginia where the James River reaches the Horse Shoe Plat section of the Chesapeake Bay. Its name comes from Thomas Willoughby, who received the land via a grant from the English king in the early 1600s. 

Over time, Willoughby Spit has been developed, with homes, businesses, highways and even a marina being built in the area sandwiched by its shores. However, nearly four centuries later, there is someone -- or something else -- looking to lay a stake to the waters around the spit. 

Stone Crabs. 

They have now reached the southern waters of the Chesapeake Bay. They too have become residents of Willoughy Spit.

It would be natural to ask, "who cares," or to mutter, "so what." But, the presence of stone crabs, even in the southernmost reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, says a lot about what is going on around us, especially with respect to our environment and our climate. 

For those who love to eat crabs, they may have encountered "stone crab claws." Crabbers harvest stone crabs and remove their claws, thereafter returning the crabs to the water where they can regrow the claws over a year or two. The harvested claws then make their way to stores and restaurants -- like Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak, and Stone Crab -- who feature the claws on menus. Stone crab claws are not cheap, with an order running from $45.00 to $125.00 depending upon the size of the claws. (The cost is a subject best saved for another post.) 

Yet, stone crabs are -- or were -- predominantly a "Florida" thing, because the crabs thrive in the warmer waters around the Florida peninsula. Until very recently, the entire stone crab market was basically built around Florida, with the crustacean being unquestionably linked to the Sunshine State. However, as ocean temperatures have risen in recent years, the crabs have been migrating northward. First, it was the shores of Georgia, then it was the shores of the Carolinas. Stone crabs migrated northward because the water temperatures have increased. In fact, temperatures have increased off the shores of North Carolina by as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit.  The warmer waters result in what experts call the "tropicalization" of the environment. In the case of the stone crabs, it expands the habitat in which they could live and thrive. Thus, over recent years and decades, stone crabs have migrated further and further north, past Georgia, South Carolina, and, now, even North Carolina. Stone crabs are now setttling in the southern waters of the Chesapeake Bay. 

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science ("VIMS") has been documenting the increase presence of stone crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, cataloguing at least our such crabs having been caught off of Willoughby's Spit, as well as reports of stone crabs being found in other parts of the bay. It's not necessarily an easy effort, as there are many crab species already in the bay that look very similar to stone crabs, such as Jonah crabs and Atlantic rock crabs. 

Source: Tripadvisor

The experts at VIMS do not believe that the stone crabs will pose a threat to the blue crabs. The two types of crabs can co-exist. Stone crabs tend to burrow, while blue crabs move around. Moreover, while stone crabs eat the same prey as blue crabs and mud crabs, both of which are indigenous to the Chesapeake Bay, all of the crabs have co-existed together. That has been the case in the waters off of North Carolina for some time. 

However, the bigger threat may be something other than the stone crab. It may be the tropicalization of the water. As temperatures increase, that may be helpful for the stone crab, but it may be harmful to other marine species, like oysters and clams. Those rising temperatures also affect fish by impacting an important food source, plankton.  It is a threat that needs to be tracked, like the voyage of the stone crab, but also addressed. 

Until we do more to address the change in our climate, there will be more stories about migrating spcies. Cue the mangrove fiddler crab ....

PEACE.

P.S.: Photo at the top of the page from Maryland Matters (courtesy of VIMS).

The Legacy of the 47th

"You know the excuses: We can't afford foreign aid anymore, or we're wasting money pouring it into these poor countries, or we can't buy friends - other countries just take the money and dislike us for giving it. Well, all these excuses are just that excuses - and their dead wrong." 

-- President Ronald Reagan (1987)

Once again, I find myself quoting President Ronald Reagan. I used to think that I did not agree with anything that the Ol' Gipper used to say or any policy that he used to promote. However, a few weeks ago, I found myself agreeing with President Reagan's views about immigration, along with the contribution that immigrants make to the United States. Now, I find myself agreeing with President Reagan again. This time, the subject involves foreign aid. While President Reagan was speaking about foreign aid generally, I find that his sentiment applies with particular force to the United States Agency for International Development or USAID. 

USAID was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 with the purpose of promoting international developments and humanitarian assistance.  Of course, there was also another reason for USAID, to enable the United States to exert "soft power" across the world to counter the Soviet Union's growing influence, especially in lesser developed countries who suffered the deprivation and exploitation caused vby decades and even centuries of colonialism. 

For more than 60 years, USAID has had a positive impact in many different ways.  When it comes to health, USAID programs cut the under-five mortality rate around the world by 50% since 1990. In just a period of three years, from 2020 to 2023, programs decreased the annual maternal death rate in certain areas by 40%. USAID preograms have also played key roles in eliminating smallpox, reducing polio, and countering the spread of HIV/AIDs. 

And, when it comes to food, which is the subject of this blog, USAID programs have distributed food to help over 4 billion people. Indeed, in 2022 alone, USAID provide over 4 billion pounds of American-grown food to 58 million people around the world through the Food for Peace program, much of which was further distributed by the United Nations World Food Program. Another USAID initative, Feed the Future, and emergency assistance have saved an estimated 92 million people from dying of starvation over the past 20 years. 

Distribution of food aid by USAID in Cameroon (Source: U.S. Embassy in Cameroon)

USAID played an important role for decades, but it was not perfect. Its programs bolstered U.S. agricultural producers, rather than developing or empowering growers and producers in other countries to better provide for themselves and their communities. Aid programs that helped local producers and workers take care of their families  could create a tax base within the country, providing funds to improve infrastructure and markets. These objectives would help lift entire communities in lesser developed countries out of poverty, as well as bring an end to the continuous cycles of emergencies that trap countries in poverty. 

Rather than improve USAID, the 47th President destroyed the agency, and for no good reason. The President claimed that USAID was run by "a bunch of radical lunatics" as a "criminal organization." None of that true. The 47th President's true objection to USAID is that the agency does not operate on a clear-cut, transactional basis: the ultimatum is not directly stated, upfront, before any assistance is provided. Every assistance "transaction" must be leveraged to coerce significant concessions, like access to natural resources. The focus moves away from the plight of those who need the assistance to the geo-political interests of "a bunch of radical lunatics" working either from a large white house or a building named after the 33rd President, Harry S. Truman.

The cost of destroying USAID for a corporate-style transactional development program has been devastating. Researchers from Boston University and The Lancet estimate that between 600,000 to more than 750,000 people have died because of the dismantling of USAID. That is the equivalent of a city from the size of Memphis, Tennessee (602,184) to Denver, Colorado (734,718). And, the dead are disproprotionally children, perhaps to two-thirds of the total dead. This is, as historian Richard Rhodes has described, "public man-made death." 

Map showing the deaths prevented by USAID programs generally from 2000 to 2021
Source: UCLA Field School of Public Health

And, here is the thing, if you are reading this post anywhere in the United States, Western Europe, Australia, or East Asia (like South Korea or Tokyo), you would have no conception of that toll. I certainly don't as I sit typing this post. But, there 10,000 to 13,000 people who worked for USAID who did understand the stakes. There are countless numbers of people -- those in the affected areas, from Bolivia to Cambodia and many places in between -- who are eyewitnesses to the the death caused by the end of these programs. The death toll will continue to climb, possibly reaching an estimated 14 million deaths by 2030.  That is equal to the entire population of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (14,023,100). 

The 47th President does not care about the consequences. That much is clear. But, we should care, and care deeply. UCLA Fielding School professor James Manko once described USAID in interesting terms: "U.S. citizens contribute about 17 cents per day to USAID, around $64 per year." That is about $5.30 per month, that is less than the cost of one month of Netflix, Apple One, or Disney Plus. Indeed, the entire USAID budget -- $21.7 billion in 2024 -- is dwarfed by the current budget of the Department of Defense, which is $839 billion.  Put simply, the USAID budget is 2.5% of the DOD budget. 

But, this is about more than dollars and cents. It is about who we are. Are we a people so self-interested that we are not willing to demand that our government help people less fortunate, not just here but elsewhere around the world. Many of us make donations to private organizations who provide assistance and run programs in areas that were served by USAID. But, this is not something that the "private sector" should be doing on its own. Governments are supposed to lead, and do so by example. For over 60 years, the US -- through USAID -- did so, albeit in a less-than-perfect fashion. But it still did it. 

Our choices tell us everything about who we are. The current war being waged by the U.S. and Israel costs the United States about $12.7 billion every day. After two days of war, we could have funded USAID. Since February 28, 2026, more than ___ days have passed, which means we could have funded more than ___ USAIDs or equivalent domestic assistance agencies that provide health, nutritional, and educational assistance both around the world. 

It's time to not only restore our country's moral and ethical compass, but to improve on it as well. Hopefully, it is not too late.

PEACE.

Little Fish, Big Problem

"And you only get big fish if you leave enough little fish in the ocean." 

-- Carl LoBue, The Nature Conservancy

Atlantic Menhaden are very small fish that are part of the herring family. Menhaden can be found from Nova Scotia to northern Florida, as well as everywhere in between, including the Chesapeake Bay. The fish are filter feeders, collecting zooplankton and phytoplankton by filtering the water as they swim. 

Menhaden have been called the "most important fish" in the sea, not because of what they eat, but because of what eats them. All types of larger fish and even mammals, from striped bass to dolphins, feast on schools of menhaden. (Dolphins can eat up to twenty pounds of menhanden in a day.)  Seabirds such as osprey, bald eagles, and pelicans also rely upon the small oily fish as a food source. By all accounts, this very small fish has a very oversized role in the aquatic food chain. 

It also has had a very large role in our history. Native Americans referred to the fish as munnawhateaug, which translates to "fertilizer." That was an apt name because indigenous people used the little, bony fish to fertilize their crops. It is believed that the Native Americans taught early colonists to plant the fish along with corn seeds, knowing that the nutrient-rich fish would help the crops grow. 

Today, these little fish end up in much more than fertilizer: they are used to produce fish oil, fish meal, and even fish bait. The utility of the small fish means that the landings (that is, the catch) of menhaden exceeds any other fish caught in the United States. In the Chesapeake Bay, all of the menhaden are primarily caught by one company: Omega Protein, a subsidiary of a Canadian corporation, and its partner Ocean Harvesters. Both primarily operate in Virginia, which is one of the only states that still allows industrial scale fishing of menhaden. 

Ocean Harvesters' vessels use purse seine netting, which are large walled nets, to catch the menhaden. While purse seines are often criticized for the amounts of bycatch, especially when using fish aggregating devices, the issue in this instance is that the use of purse seines results in an overcatch of mehaden. The menhaden catch is already subject to regulation, limiting the amount of fish that can be caught in any year. Omega and its partner have been accused of exceeding those limitations in previous years. Back in 2019, it admitted to exceeding the limits. 

Ocean Harvesters' vessels using purse seine netting to catch mehaden
(Source: Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and
Cosmovision Media

Yet, limitations are put in place for a reason, and, there are concerns that overfishing menhaden will have ripple effects across the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere (the menhaden do migrate to North Carolina in the fall and winter). The biggest concern is the loss of food for other marine species, given the menhaden's critical role in the food chain. In fact, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission determined that the current limitation on mehanden fishing would threaten the striped bass population. Other studies have shown an impact on osprey, as evidenced by an increase in the starvation rate among osprey chicks.  

Most recently, the commission voted to reduce the limits on mehaden fishing by 20%. The change was due to reduced estimates of menhaden populations in the waters. The Commission also voted to consider additional changes to the catch levels in the Chesapeake Bay, although no such change was immediately implemented. These changes are overwhelmingly supported by the public, with 92% of voters in Virginia supporting leaving more mehanden in the bay.

While the reduction in catch limits is welcomed, more needs to be done, especially to support other fisheries, like the striped bass fishery. Yet, the issue is often pitted as jobs (namely, those who work for Omega Protein and Ocean Harvesters catching and processing mehanden) versus the environment. Such an issue is really not one at all. If there are no menhaden, not only are there no striped bass, but there are also no jobs catching and processing mehaden. It is far easier to retrain a worker than it is to restore a species that goes locally extinct (although, as I have previously noted, that story of the bay scallop shows that the task is extremely difficult, but not impossible). 

Our history has shown us to be very bad at balancing our needs with the environment, especially when it comes to the rivers, seas and oceans. Menhaden are a textbook example of that imbalance, as well as the ripple effects it can have throughout an ecoystem. We need more research and more action to ensure the future of not just those tiny fish, but also everything else that depends upon them.

*     *     *

Post Script: For more about mehanden, check out the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's website. You can also watch this episode of Earth Focus from PBS about the film, Menhaden: The Most Important Fish in the Bay:

PEACE.

Restoring Virginia's Scallops

Scallops have always been an important foodsource up and down the eastern United States. And, around 1930, the State of Virginia was perhaps the largest producer of bay scallops in the United States. Just as there were oystermen/women and crabbers plying the waters around the Delmarva, there were also scallop fishermen (and women) who plied the brackish waters between the barrier islands and the eastern shore, harvesting scallops for the local market and beyond. 

A healthy scallop fishery depends upon a few things. Perhaps the most important of which is eelgrass. This seagrass provides the habitat for young scallops to develop, as well as protection from predators, like blue crabs. Another important thing is salinity. Scallops thrive in environments with a higher salinity. Both of these factors were present along the eastern Shore of Virginia, from Chincoteague Island to South Bay, from the coast to the barrier islands, which served as a buffer to the Atlantic Ocean.

Things began to change in the early 1930s. A wasting disease began taking its toll on the eelgrass in the region. Then, in 1933, the Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane wiped out all of the remaining eel-grass by literally moving the barrier islands to smother the seagrass beds. The entire habitat of the scallops was gone; and, with that, scallops went locally extinct in the Chesapeake Bay area. 

I was completely unaware of this history until our most recent summer vacation. I planned a family trip to Virginia's eastern shore. As I prepared our itinerary, I looked for "foodie" things to do, especially things that had a learning or experiential component. I found the website for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), which has an eastern shore facility in Wachapreague, Virginia. As I read the VIMS website, I realized that this would be an interesting place to visit. I reached out to arrange a tour of the Wachapreague facility. I was particularly interested in the Castagna Shellfish Hatchery, which houses the aquaculture research programs. I thought that it would be great to learn more about the overall life cycle of shellfish. This education would pair well with a tour of the Lambert Shellfish oyster farm that I had scheduled for later that day. 

What was to be a tour about how shellfish are cultivated from seed to sprat turned into so much more. It became a lesson about how we can overcome a local extinction event through commitment and hard work. And, while many have spoken on this subject (just Google "scallops" and "Virginia"), I felt compelled to add whatever I can to this important discussion.  

Part One: Restore the Habitat

VIMS actually has two facilities: one on the eastern shore in Wachapreague and another on the middle neck in Glouchester Point. This latter facility is where the lesson begins. 

VIMS's Glouchester Point facility has served as the center of research and action to restore eelgrass habits in the Chesapeake Bay and along the eastern shore. The research was led by Robert Orth, who has earned the title, "Johnny Appleseed of Seagrass." Working with researchers and staff, Robert Orth developed a program that began with transplanting eelgrass from one part of the bay to another part. Once the eelgrass took root (both figuratively and literally), then the program evolved to focus on spreading eelgrass seeds, focusing primarily on four particular areas: South Bay, Cobb Bay, Spider Crab Bay and Hog Island.

Restoring eelgrass is not like planting grass in someone's yard. Generally speaking, one has to account for a wide range of variables. Eelgrass thrives within a certain salinity range. If the salinity is too low or too high, then it won't grow. It is also particularly vulnerable to human development, with runoff and deforestation taking tolls on eelgrass meadows. In sum, for eelgrass to thrive, it requires a very healthy, balanced environment. 

VIMS has restored eelgrass in approximately nine-thousand, five huundred (9,500) acres of the Chesapeake Bay, including the four bays and lagoons that I mentioned above. It believes these efforts have led to "the most successful seagrass recovery effort in history" and it is hard to doubt that statement. (VIMS has also shown its work, which can be seen here.)  

Part Two: Restoring the Scallops

While VIMS Glouchester worked to restore the eelgras, VIMS Wachaprague worked to restore the scallop population. This work begins at the Castagna Shellfish Hatchery, which is named after Michael Castagna, the first Executive Director of VIMS's Eastern Shore Laboratory. Castagna wrote the pioneering work that serves as the foundation of hard-shell clam aquaculture. 

The hatchery's researchers and staff started the restoration process with scallop brood stock from North Carolina, specifically the Bogue and Core Sounds. They had mixed success with their initial efforts. It was only after the researchers widened their vision, introducing brood stocks from New York and Florida, that things really began to change. 

To understand the process, which as a layperson I can only describe in very general terms, researchers start with adult scallops. They adjust the environmental conditions for the scallops to prompt the reproduction cycle. Once they have achieved that objective, the researchers remove the fertilized eggs and place them in a large tank, where they oversee the scallops during their initial stages of development.  

Dedicated VIMS staff, like Hatchery Manager Reba Smith, watch over the nascent scallops, feeding them different forms of algae to help them grow. They use four different types of algae, which are maintained in a multi-colored array of carboys. The specific algae used depends on where the scallops are in their metamorphosis. 

As the scallops develop, they are moved to the nursery. Other VIMS staff, including Nursery Manager Darien Kelly, continue to oversee the scallops' metamorphosis. Kelly watches them as they develop, providing them with local creek water that contains natural plankton, while also monitoring the sediment loads in that water. As the scallops develop, their little swimmers turn into feet, which they use to affix themselves to surfaces (like eelgrass). This is how scallops differentiate themselves from other mollusks. Scallops can move around, where as oysters and mussels affix themselves to a spot permanently. Likewise, while clams have some ability to move, that is mostly digging themselves into the mud and sand for protection. Scallops can swim, a trait that helps in their development and their protection.  

While in the nursery, the scallops grow in long raceway tables. The staff continue to feed algae as they monitor the scallops until they reach their juvenile stage, which takes about 60 days to 120 days. At that point, the scallops are ready to be introduced into the "wild." The scallops are moved to ground cages in areas like the South Bay, where they can continue to grow and develop. They are also released into other areas  where VIMS has successfully re-established eelgrass habitats The young scallops use their "feet" to attach themselves to the eelgrass, which enables them to develop out of reach of many predators. 

The work of VIMS' Wachepreague facility does not end with the reintroduction of the scallops to the bay. Staff conduct annual surveys of the scallops stocks in areas like South Bay, Cobb Bay and Hogs Island, to see how the scallops are faring on their own. This survey is extensive and hard work, as staff survey large stretches of the seafloor by hand. They record their findings, as well as collect new potential broodstock that could be used to continue the process so that the scallop populations can be further increased.

Based on its studies, VIMS has determined that, since 2018, their work -- as well as the environmetnal conditions -- have enabled scallop populations to increase in certain areas along the eastern shore of Virginia. The above chart shows the general increase in scallop populations, but the rates differ by specific area. For example, scallop populations have generallly increased in both Cobb Bay and South Bay. However, in South South Bay, the scallop populations have increased at an even greater rate.

Source: Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences

And, just recently, VIMS conducted its annual survey for 2025. The survey produced more amazing results, showing that the scallop population had increased substantially over the past year. The results showed that the surveyed areas generally went from .0652 scallops per square meter to .114 scallops per square meter.  This new number bodes well for two reasons: one is known as propagule pressure, which is the point where spawning may be taking place in nature; and the second involves the potential of restoring a recreational scallop fishery. 

Overall, the important work of VIMS has done something that is truly rare: they have countered a local extinction event, bringing back an animal that had been wiped out nearly 100 years ago. This work demonstrates that we can play an important role in repairing the damage done, whether by Mother Nature or by our own hands. 

I am incredibly thankful for the staff of VIMS's Wachapreague facility, especially Managers Smith and Kelly, for taking the time out of their busy day to tell us about their work. I know that both my family and myself left the facility truly impressed with their commitment and their hard work. I hope that they continue to find success to the point that there is not only a recreational scallop activity, but a potetnial scallop fishery once again. 

PEACE.

P.S.: To learn more about VIMS, as well as the work of Managers Smith and Kelly, check out the latest from W&M News. 

The Blue Cat Apocalpyse

Blue Catfish. They are the prototypical invasive species with an all too common origin story. The fish  were introduced into local waterways back in the 1970s. The waterways included the James River, York River and Rappahannock Rivers.  The introduction was meant to create a sports fishing scene for anglers who wanted a good fight when they fished. They achieved their objective, but at a devastating cost that is still unfolding to this day.

Blue catfish are apex predators, and, they quickly took over the local ecosystems. However, unlike most catfish, which are bottom feeders, blue catfish pursue prey at all levels of the water column. That "prey" includes just about anything and everything.  The fish eat vegetation, but they also go after blue crabs, clams, mussels, and other fish (like perch, menhaden, and striped bass). Blue catfish also hunt and eat turtles, muskrats and, as reported on one occasion, and entire wood duck. These catfish also eat between 8% and 9% of their mass everyday. The result is that blue catfish populations have eclipsed the populations of other species.

This has taken place not just in the original three Virginian waterways, but elsewhere across the Chesapeake Bay. The blue catfish have made their ways into Maryland waterways, where, in some areas, they comprise nearly 70% of the biomass in those waters.  And, the blue catfish are wreaking havoc on native species, including, as noted above, the iconic blue crab and the striped bass.

To make matters worse, as an apex predator, the blue catfish has a very high perch on the food chain. Only raptors, like bald eagles and ospreys, constitute predators of blue catfish. And, then of course, there are humans. In recent years, people have started initiatives to curb the blue catfish population. One such way has been through promoting the consumption of blue catfish caught in the Chesapeake Bay. This got me to thinking about my favorite catfish dishes that I have prepared. While some of these involve regular catfish, all of them can be made with blue catfish. 

MY FAVORITE CATFISH RECIPE (AS OF RIGHT NOW): 

CAMBODIAN GINGER FISH

Recipe from AllRecipes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 pound peeled, matchstick-cut fresh ginger

4 catfish fillets (about 4 ounces each)

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1/4 red bell pepper, cut in thin matchsticks

1/2 bunch green onions, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Directions:

1. Prepare the fish. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir ginger in the hot oil until slightly softened and brown, 5 to 7 minutes.  Add catfish fillets, cook until firm, about 3 minutes per side.  Remove fillets from the skillet to a plate and set aside.  

2.  Finish the dish.  Stir fish sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce together in the skillet.  Add onion and red bell pepper.  Cook and stir until softened, about 4 minutes.  Return catfish fillets to the skillet and spoon sauce and vegetables over the fillets.  Continue cooking until the flesh of the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 3 minutes more.  Garnish with green onions and serve immediately. 

OTHER GREAT RECIPES TO TRY

If you are looking for other ways to taken down an apex predator like the blue catfish, I would suggest the following recipes: 

Catfish Curry: This recipe is a Chef Bolek original. I began buying "catfish nuggets" at my local grocery store because they were cheap and I like catfish (nuggets are the pieces left over after the fish has been filleted). This recipe draws inspiration from the southeastern Asian curries that I have made over the years. 

Catfish Milanese: A classic Milanese is made with veal, but there are versions that use chicken. Why not use catfish, which not only has a texture that works well with the recipe but a long history of being fried and served on its own. This recipe dates back to 2015, when I first noted the problem of blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay.

Blackened Catfish with Maque Choux: This is a very close second to my most favorite catfish dish. I strongly prefer blackened catfish over fried catfish and the maque choux - a dish that incorporates corn, green peppers, onions and tomatoes - is a great accompaniment to this dish. 

General Tso's Catfish: If I have said it once, I have said it many times, "a general cannot live on chicken alone." This dish substitutes the catfish for the fowl that it would most certainly eat if it had the chance. The texture of blue catfish would work even better than regular catfish in this recipe.

There you have it ... a few ways that you can help cull the blue catfish population wherever it is taking over the waterways. 

One last note: if you happen to have blue catfish to prepare, just keep in mind that there may be some advisories with respect to consumption of the fish. Those advisories depend upon where the fish was caught. For example, if the fish is caught in a river such as the Potomac, or even in the Chesapeake Bay, the fish have been found to possess elevated levels of PCBs. For that reason, authorities suggest that, at most, you limit your consumption of such fish to no more than four times a month, and to fish that measure between 15 inches and 24 inches. These limits are stricter for certain populations like children. 

Until next time ...

PEACE.

The Super Pigs are Coming

An invasion threat looms over the United States. The threat is not the one that right wing politicians and their media mouthpieces have been fomenting at the border with Mexico. Instead, it is one that scientists and others have been warning about at the border with Canada. It is not an invasion of people and their families trying to seek a better, safer life. It is an invasion of pigs seeking out more to eat. 

And it is not just any pigs, but super pigs. Pigs that had been cross-bred with wild boars. Canadian farmers introduced the cross-bred pigs in the 1980s. They sought to make a sturdier pig that could do better in Canadian winters. When the market price plunged for boar and pig meat in the early 2000s, the farmers began to release the pigs into the wild. The farmers thought the pigs would not survive the Canadian winters, which is a crazy thought given the whole purpose was to breed a pig who could survive the snow and cold temperatures. And, in fact, the pigs did survive and thrive. 

Now, there are super pigs roaming the Canadian prairie. Lots of furry animals that can reach weights of more than 500 pounds. (That is more than twice the size of feral pigs currently found in the United States.) Large animals that are highly intelligent and that have an appetite that includes just about everything. The menu includes not only domesticated crops, which they root up and destroy, but other animals ranging from small mice to even whitetail deer, as well as everything in between. And, if all of that was not enough to set off alarms, these large, furry omnivores also reproduce at a high rate. It is estimated that, even if 65% of the pigs were killed on a yearly basis, they could still see their population increase. Wherever these super pigs go, they are sure to alter the local ecosystem in negative ways.

Up to now, the pigs have been roaming (and ravaging) the Canadian countryside in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. However, scientists and government officials now believe that the range of the super pigs will extend to the northern United States. They expect the super pigs to cross into Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota.  Those areas have the ideal habitat for the pigs, which is a mix of wetlands, decidious forests and cropland.

So, I figured that we could greet the pigs with some of my favorite pork recipes that I have made over the years. My favorite recipe is the following one from the Yucatan peninsula. 

MY FAVORITE PORK RECIPE (AS OF RIGHT NOW): 

COCHINITA PIBIL

Recipe adapted from Glebe Kitchen

Serves several

Ingredients (for the marinade):

• 8 cloves unpeeled garlic
• juice of 2 medium oranges
• juice of 2 large limes
• 3 ounces achiote paste
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

Ingredients (for the pork):

• 4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder
• chunks of oak wood (for the smoker)
• Banana leaves (or parchment paper)
• Foil pan

Ingredients (for the pickled onions):

• 2 red onions, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
• 2 cloves garlic, cut in half
• 1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 clove
• 5 allspice berries, whole
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients (for the presentation):

• Corn tortillas
• Pico de gallo

Directions:

1. Prepare the pork.  Roast the garlic in their skins. Use a small cast iron frying pan over medium heat and toast them until they blacken slightly and soften. This takes about 3-5 minutes. Peel the garlic. Combine the peeled, softened garlic with the lime and orange juice, achiote paste, and salt in a blender and blend thoroughly. Check to ensure that the achiote paste is broken up. Add the marinade to the pork and ensure that all sides of the meat are covered by the marinade. Marinate for two to four hours.

2. Prepare the smoker. Prepare the smoker to reach a temperature of about 275 degrees to 300 degrees. Soak the chunks of oak wood for about 1 hour in water.

3. Prepare the pickled onions. Combine all of the ingredients except the onions in a pot and bring that pot to a boil. Add the onions and boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and let cool, stirring occasionally. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. Let the onions rest for at least 4 hours before using.

4. Prepare the pork for the smoker. Typically, the pork is wrapped in banana leaves; however, I did not have access to those leaves. However, I used four pieces of parchment. Scrunch one piece of parchment to form a receptacle for the pork along with the marinade. (The goal is for the pork to be steamed with the marinade while it is smoked.) Take a second piece and cover the pork wrapping it around the pork. Place the pork in an aluminum pan. Place the pan in the smoker and smoke for about 3 to 4 hours or until the pork reaches 190 or 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Continue to prepare the pork. After removing the pork from the smoker, let it rest for 20 minutes. Remove the pork from the parchment packets but keep the marinade and juices. Use a fat separator to separate the fat. shred the pork with two forks and then mix the juice back into the meat. 

6. Finish the dish. Serve with corn tortillas, pico de gallo and the pickled onions.

OTHER GREAT RECIPES TO TRY

If you are looking for other ways to cull an invading population of super pigs, I would suggest the following recipes: 

Chargrilled Hmong Black Pig Skewers with Sesame Salt: This recipe, which comes from the Hmong communities in the hills of Vietnam and Laos, brings together a great balance of flavors that includes lemongrass, fish sauce, oyster sauce, honey and sesame.   

Wesley Jones' Barbecue: This recipe is a trip back in time to explore the origins of barbecue, which lies with the experience and expertise of enslaved Africans on plantations across the southern United States. This particular recipe represents the earliest recorded explanation of how barbecue was prepared. 

Free State Smoked Pork Shoulder: This recipe comes from my Project Maryland BBQ series, in which I explored what a barbecue style would look like if Maryland had its own style like the Carolinas or Texas. This smoked pork would pair well with the Maryland-style barbecue sauce (that includes Old Bay).

Carne Avovada: This recipe is a treasure of New Mexican cuisine. It incorporates ingredients that I use all the time, such as chiles, and ones that I had not used at all until then, like brewed coffee. The resulting dish is one full of rich, deep flavors that one can enjoy time and again.

Kangchu Maroo: If the goal is to cull pig populations, we should do so in a conscious manner, utilizing as much of the pigs as possible. I made this recipe as part of my Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge. It incorporates pig trotters into a curry served in Bhutan that was surprisingly delicious. 

There are many other pork recipes to try on this blog. Just check out What is in My Fridge and Pantry to the right of this blog and click on "Pork" for all of those recipes. Until next time ...

PEACE.

The Uyghur Connection

The People's Republic of China is the world's largest seafood producer, producing over sixty-seven million metric tons (67 MMT) of seafood per year, which includes more than twenty million metric tons of processed seafood. Much of that production comes from aquaculture, the domestic cultivation of fish, shrimp and other crustaceans, with wild caught seafood in decline. 

China also has a very sizeable seafood processing industry. There are approximately 9,202 seafood processing facilities, mostly in the coastal provinces of Shandong, Fujian, Liaoning, Zhejiang and Guangdong. The largest export markets for Chinese seafood are, in order of size, (1) Japan; (2) the United States; and (3) Thailand. The exports principally consist of processed seafood products. The magnitude of the exports is also staggering.  For example, it is estimated that half of the fish sticks served in American public schools were processed in China. 

Yet, in recent weeks and months, additional light has been shed on some of the workers who process seafood in Chinese facilities for both domestic and foreign markets. The revelations expose, at least for me, some of crueler dimensions of the Chinese government's ongoing persecution of the Uyghur people. This is a story of how a people, whose home can be found in a landlocked region, end along the coastline, processing seafood.

I have previously discussed China's persecution of the Uyghur people. Those discussions can be found here, here and here.  This persecution is best described by Anthropologist Adrian Zenz as a "strategy of control and assimilation ... designed to eliminate the Uyghur culture." 

One major component of this strategy is a forced labor program in which the Chinese Government forcibly transfers Uyghurs across the country to work in various industries. One of those industries, as it is being reported, is the seafood industry. In recent weeks and months, new light has been shed on some of the workers who process the seafood in China for both domestic and foreign markets. These revelations expose even crueler dimensions to the ongoing persecution of the Uyghur people.  

Investigative journalists have been chronicling this persecution and forced labor. One very good resource is The Outlaw Ocean. Investigators for the Outlaw Ocean have followed Chinese seafood vessels around the world, from the waters of North Korea to the waters off of The Gambia and then to the waters off the Falkland Islands and Galapagos Islands. Their method of communication with the crew involved throwing plastic bottles with handwritten questions (in Chinese, Indonesian and English) onto the seafood vessels. Surprisingly, the investigators received some answers. Those answers revealed abuses such as debt bondage, wage withholding, excessive working hours, forced labor, beating of crew members, confiscation of passports, prohibiting medical care and death.

Once the food made it back to the mainland for processing, The Outlaw Ocean tracked the food to a processing plant in the Shandong province, where they found forced labor working to process the catch. The forced labor consisted of Uyghurs who had been sent to work there. The forced transportation of Uyghurs has been part of what China has called as "Uyghur Aid." The communist government claims that the program is to promote "full employment" and "ethnic interaction, exchange and blending. The actual purpose is the forced assimilation of Uyghurs through forced labor. The program is "door-to-door," with Uyghurs being "delivered from the collection points in Xinjiang to the factory." 

The United States enacted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act ("UFLPA") in 2021, which requires the United States Customs and Border Protection ("CPB")  to block the import of goods produced with the forced labor of Uyghurs and other minorities. Over the past two years, CPB has seized over a billion dollars worth of goods, ranging from cotton to solar panels. However, most of those goods originate in Xinjiang or East Turkestan, making it easy to seize. 

By contrast, the production of seafood, as noted above, takes place along the coast, as opposed to a landlocked province like Xinjiang. By putting Uyghurs on trains and transporting them to a location that is thousands of miles away, China is able to evade many of the eyes watching for forced labor. 

As a result, seafood processed with forced labor has made its way into the markets of the United States and Europe. According to the Outlaw Ocean and other media sources (like Politico):

• Over $50 million of salmon from plants in China that used Uyghur labor went to federally funded soup kitchens and programs to feed low-income elderly people;
• Another $20 million of pollock (that is, fish sticks), was shipped to the National School Lunch Program and other federal assistance programs; 
• Another $140 million of cod, salmon and halibut was delivered to U.S. military bases domestically and abroad. 

Those are just a few examples of how seafood processed with forced Uyghur labor has made its way into the American market. There are probably more given that at least ten large seafood companies in China have used over one thousand Uyghur workers since 2018.

There is a lot more than can be said on this issue and I may have more to say in the future. While I would ordinarily end one of these posts with my favorite recipes, it doesn't seem appropriate here. Instead, a word of advice ... try hard to determine the source of the seafood that you buy in the market. If it comes from China, buy something else. 

Until next time ...

PEACE.

When Oysters Can't Sleep

This appears to be the reason why oysters found in deep water are rather small; darkness hinders their growth, and their gloom robs them of appetite.

-- Pliny the Elder 

Pliny's words may hold true for oysters that find themselves in the deep depths of water; but, what if oysters find themselves in a world of light. Does that mean that they will thrive and grow to be big and plump? Put another way, what if oysters are exposed to too much light? What happens in that case?

Those questions were tackled by researchers from the University of Bordeaux. Those researchers - Audrey Botte, Laura Payton and Damien Tran - published a study in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The researchers kept oysters in several tanks. They turned up the lights slowly to simulate the rising sun and then kept the lights on as if it were daytime. They turned down the lights as the sun would set, but they did not turn them down all the way. Instead, they left a dim glow, which was supposed to simulate artificial light at night. After they concluded their study, they published their findings: 

Our results showed that ALAN [artificial light at night] disrupts the oyster's daily rhythm by increasing valve activity and annihilating day/night differences of expression of circadian clock and clock-associated genes.

So, too much light -- or too much continuous light -- has a negative effect upon oysters.  The following graphic also demonstrates the researcher's findings:

Put simply, light pollution - especially light produced by cities during the night time - has an effect upon the daily lives of oysters. The impact upon the oysters' biological rhythms affects the bivalves' genes. Those genes are what turn on oysters during the day and turn them off at night. But, if there is continuous light, the oysters do not turn off. They don't sleep. They have insomnia. 

The effects of insomnia upon people are well researched and documented. Generally, according to the Mayo Clinic, insomnia can cause physical, mental and emotional complications. People are less effective at what they do. One can surmise that insomnia could have equivalent effects upon oysters - making them less effective at what they do and perhaps even affecting how their internal systems operate.  For people, the solution involves, in part, improvement in sleeping habits. Perhaps for oysters, the solution lies in improving their sleeping habits. That means turning off the lights. 

All of the discussion of oysters got me to thinking about my favorite oyster recipes. If I had to choose one recipe that, to date, is my favorite oyster recipe, it would be the following one. There is something about oysters and gazpacho that is the perfect combination, at least in my humble opinion.

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE OYSTER RECIPE

ANDALUSIAN-INSPIRED OYSTER SHOOTERS

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pint of shucked oysters or 24 oysters shucked with liqueur reserved
• 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cucumber, skinned, seeded, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, skinned, seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1 bunch of scallions, white parts and green parts thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup water
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Prepare the "gazpacho."  Place the tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, white wine vinegar, and jalapeno in a blender.  Blend until the ingredients are liquified.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

2.  Prepare the oysters.  If you buy a pint of oysters, remove the oysters and strain the liquid through cheesecloth.  If you bought the oysters, shuck the oysters and reserve the liqueur.

3.  Finish the dish.  Stir the oyster liqueur into the "gazpacho."  Place 1 or 2 oysters in the bottom of a shot glass, and 1-2 tablespoons of the "gazpacho."  Garnish with the scallions.  Serve immediately.

OTHER DELICIOUS OYSTER DISHES TO TRY

If you are looking for other dishes that will make oysters lie awake at night, here are some recipes that I strongly recommend: 

Vietnamese Grilled Oysters: This recipe presents grilled oysters with a topping that incorporates a perfect balance of the five tastes: spice, sour, salty, bitter and sweet.The chiles provided the spice. Lime juice perhaps contributes the sour or bitter flavors. Fish sauce definitely imbues a salty umami flavor and there can be no dispute that honey adds sweetness to the dish. 

Oyster Ceviche: This recipe allows one to "cook" oysters in a different way, through the chemical reaction caused by the oysters marinating in citrus juice. That chemical reaction is also the common method of preparing ceviche, which is a well known dish throughout Latin America.

Oyster Shooters with Tomato, Lime and Chiles: I called this recipe ever invented. That was back in 2017, which was one year before I discovered my Andalusian-Inspired Oyster Shooters recipe. Still, the combination of tomatoes, limes and chiles works well for a non-alcoholic oyster shooter. 

Oysters Rockefeller: No list of oyster dishes would seemingly be complete without a reference to Oysters Rockefeller. The dish that originated in New Orleans and whose original recipe is still a closely guarded secret. My first attempt at the dish was not bad, but the end result was very tasty.

These are just some of the oyster recipes on this blog. If you want to see the other posts, just click on "Oysters" in the word cloud in "What's in my Fridge + Pantry." Until next time,

PEACE.