Overpopulated catfish to stock D.C.-area food pantries

The name “blue catfish” doesn’t carry the same villainous ring as that of its invasive counterpart, the snakehead, but the whiskered fish are proving even uglier for the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Having vacuumed their way through local flora and fauna — even some precious Maryland blue crabs — they now outnumber other fish 3-1 in bay tributaries.

A new nonprofit group is putting this source of protein to work for a noble cause, turning its plentiful numbers — and mildly sweet, malleable flavor — into affordable food for Washington’s hunger-relief organizations and the broader market.

“Conceptually, it’s simple. There’s too much fish, so let’s turn this problem into an amazing solution for two different issues,” said Wendy Stuart, co-founder of the Wide Net Project and the consulting practice Food Works Group, which has been working on the project for about a year.

Stuart’s background as an economist and Culinary Institute of America-trained chef complements that of Wide Net’s other founder, Sharon Feuer Gruber, who until recently worked as an adviser to the District’s largest food pantry, Bread for the City.

They have a shared penchant for improving local food systems and, while they’re at it, the region’s natural and social ecosystems.

“What we realized is we can address both of these issues more successfully together,” said Feuer Gruber.

After deciding the blue catfish was a problem bigger than the attention it was receiving, the two had to figure out whether they could address it, and how.

Introduced into three Virginia rivers in the 1970s as a game fish, the catfish have acclimated quite well, growing to more than 100 pounds during their 20-year lifespan. They now make up an estimated 75 percent of total fish in local rivers. The Maryland Department of Fisheries says catching and consuming them is the best way to reduce the fish’s population.

Native bay species including blue crabs, menhaden and herring have become easy prey for this rapacious eater, but very few species eat blue catfish.

The fish is so abundant in local rivers that scientists have caught more than 6,000 of them in one hour during population surveys, according to the Blue Ocean Institute. The research organization recently gave the Chesapeake-sourced fish its highest sustainability rating, meaning that eating more of it is actually good for the bay.

Meanwhile, restaurants, universities and other large institutional buyers are increasingly looking for local, sustainable fish options. And if those options are offered at the same price as, say, farmed tilapia from China, “it sort of becomes a one-plus-one-equals-three scenario,” said Stuart.

For Wide Net, the key to selling buyers on that equation was finding the right partner.

Instead of investing in the infrastructure to catch, process and distribute the fish, Stuart and Feuer Gruber decided to work with J.J. McDonnell, the Jessup seafood supplier that will be the project’s exclusive distributor. The company had already been marketing the fish and sold 190,000 pounds of it last year

Connor Boney, marketing manager for J.J. McDonnell, quickly embraced the concept, which has the potential to increase demand for a fish that is easy to catch, needs to be harvested in greater quantities and can be sold cheaply to those most in need.

“From our perspective, it’s fantastic. Why wouldn’t we want to be involved?” he said. The company will distribute only blue catfish that weigh eight pounds or less, to avoid toxicity problems sometimes found in older, larger fish.

Connor Boney, marketing manager for J.J. McDonnell, quickly embraced the concept, which has the potential to increase demand for a fish that is easy to catch, needs to be harvested in greater quantities and can be sold cheaply to those most in need.

“From our perspective, it’s fantastic. Why wouldn’t we want to be involved?” he said. The company will distribute only blue catfish that weigh eight pounds or less, to avoid toxicity problems sometimes found in older, larger fish.