WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WFXR) -- If you can't beat them, eat them!
When it comes to blue catfish management, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) fisheries biologists are hoping for a little help from the rest of us.
How?
They want us to harvest and eat blue catfish.
When blue cats were stocked in the tidal James River five decades ago, it was thought that they would be confined to the stream, that the salinity in areas downriver was too high for the fish to move beyond the James. It turns out blue catfish have a higher tolerance for brackish water than thought. Now, they are established in every Virginia tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.
It has been a mixed blessing. Blue catfish are the target of a trophy fishing industry that generates millions of dollars in economic impact for areas along the streams. However, the blue cat biomass is expanding and having a detrimental effect on native species and the ecosystem.
That means DWR biologists have to perform a management balancing act. They need to preserve the economically important trophy fishery, while reducing the number of smaller fish to control biomass.
"Increasing recreational harvest is really important to getting those numbers down and reducing those negative effects on our native and commercially important fish," said DWR Tidal Fisheries Biologist Margi Whitmore.
That is why the DWR hosted a Blue Catfish Catch and Cook Clinic recently at the Chickahominy Riverfront Park Pier in Williamsburg. The clinic showed anglers which blue cats were best for harvest, and how to catch, clean, and cook them.
"Fifteen to 25 inch fish are really good eating," said DWR Aquatic Education Coordinator Alex McCrickard.
Those smaller fish are the target, and they are fine to eat. There is a health advisory that applies to larger blue catfish, and it is recommended none over 32 inches long be eaten.
Patricia Clement, is a content creator and social media influencer known as "The Rivah Sistah." She was on hand to show anglers some of her favorite ways to process and cook blue catfish.
After demonstrating some basic filet techniques, she showed people in the class how she likes to egg and bread the fish.
"I add some mustard to some beaten eggs and coat the fish," said Clement.
She then placed the fish in a commercial breading mix and dropped them into hot peanut oil.
A few minutes later, she removed the crispy golden brown filets.
In addition to frying, Clement also demonstrated how to blacken filets.
Blue catfish are relatively easy to catch. A basic bottom rig baited with cut bait fished in Virginia's tidal rivers will take fish. And, they are versatile as table fare; several techniques can be used to cook and enjoy them.
"They're a really good eating fish, they don't taste muddy or super fishy, and they work in a lot of different dishes, they're really versatile, said Whitmore.
"They're really good eating," added McCrickard. "I like to batter them up, fry them up, make fish tacos. They're really good blackened."
