The idea of eating invasive species – plants, animals, even bugs – is appealing. Reduce the bad thing and get “free” food! Win-win!
As a way to reduce invasive populations, however, it rarely works due to economics. Once the species becomes popular to eat, it’s cheaper and more profitable to raise it, farm-style, rather than harvest it in the wild. If you’re not careful, you might end up with the “cobra effect” giving people incentive to breed more of the invasive.
Still, it’s a fun idea: Here’s an example of a Boston restaurant serving up some of those nasty green crabs, from Axios.
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