Carp venture in Kentucky back above water

Chinese American businesswoman transforms invasive species into valuable goods

When Angie Yu first went to Kentucky, the United States, in 2013 to turn invasive Asian carp into a profitable business, she had been planning to return to her Los Angeles home after five years.

She settled in Wickliff, a small town with a population of 700. Yu established Two Rivers Fisheries along with her husband, and became the first and only Chinese family to live there.

Asian carp, which was imported into the US in the 1970s to clean algae in commercial ponds, later spilled into the freshwater system. It thrived so well that some fish would leap out of the water and into people's boats. However, the carp then crowded out native species and upset the ecological balance.