FARLEY, Mo. — A company in Farley, Missouri is creating a business out of an invasive species of fish in the Platte and Missouri rivers. Missouri Coast Fisheries stumbled into their new business, somewhat by accident.
“The fire department came to bail us out!” said CEO and Co-Founder Greg Trial. Their pontoon boat had broken down in the river, and the fire department came to tow them back to the dock.
“On the way back,” Trial said, “their boat filled with fish.”
They found out that carp jump out of the water due to the frequency of the motor.
“As an inventor and a businessperson, a light bulb goes off and we said, “‘We should just put nets on the boat on the side.’”
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The Missouri Department of Conservation says that the silver carp were “introduced into the United States to help improve water quality in wastewater treatment plants.”
“They basically eat the bottom out of the food chain,” said Trial.
“They outcompete the native game fish and the good fish we have in the river, the shad and the other fish that we depend on to keep the river clean and keep the river free of other harmful things.”
They worked with the Missouri Department of Conservation to commercially fish in the Platte River, which has proved to be a challenge.
“Every time you cross one hurdle, there’s another one ahead of you. It’s just like it’s just like track and field,” said co-founder Jim Finke.
“It’s tough because every time you say, ‘Hey, we want to try this’, or like, ‘Oh, we got to go check.’ And I’m like, ‘Guys, we’re trying to solve this problem for you because you guys aren’t doing it!’”
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They’re able to fish in the Platte River under an experimental contract with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Trial says, the carp are smaller in the Platte, and he suspects the fish use the river as a nursery. He said that the species does not have many natural predators.
“We are the kind of the apex predator in the river system here. It’s us. It’s my crew, you know, we are the monster,” he said.
They turn the fish into a variety of niche products including dog treats and fertilizer. So far, they’ve discovered that carp can be used for 12 different products. They said now they are able to make nearly 300 dollars in gross profit from just one fish.
“I think we’ve shown that we can take something that nobody wanted, somebody sat and thought that was pretty much a worthless trash fish and do some good with it,” they said.
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Trial and Finke hope to continue to develop products and eventually move to other species of invasive animals in the river. But Trial says, the fish will always be there.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to get rid of the problem. I think we can kind of limit the problem. And they are obviously here to stay,” he said.
He’s a lifelong sportsman and says that the business is all about giving back to the waterways that provide so much for us.
“We depend on our river for fishing. We depend on our lakes, and I think just that need to kind of give back and try to get back to what we take from it.”
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