This week's venture into the 'what if's':

What if the countries dealing with species invasions tried using the invaders rather than being used by them?  No I'm not speaking of ISIS or Al Qaeda or any humans, really. What I'm talking about are things like kudzu and zebra and quagga mussels, stinkbugs and giant hornets, wild pigs in Hawaii__you know, things that don't belong but are here anyway. Oh, yes. The snakehead fish can go on the list.  All of these are here and have no natural controls because they aren't native here.  What to do?

As far as kudzu goes, I think the Japanese have that covered.  They eat it.  The flowers smell good, too.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/474310-how-to-cook-eat-kudzu/

Then there are those pesky jumping [and walking] fish that are making a nuisance of our waterways.  Fish makes great fertilizer.  And pet food.  Grind 'em up. They're a part of the diet in some countries which is how, it is hypothesized, they ended up here in the first place.

Then there are the invasive mussels.  I'm not sure about these.  I like mussels. They are some of my favorite shellfish.  But as I understand it, these invasive varieties from Eastern Europe aren't great for culinary purposes.  They are supposed to filter a prodigious amount of water. This is one of the problems, apparently.  Because while they filter, they feed and deplete all the nutrients and microcosms that feed the rest of the aquatic community.  They also build up prolific amounts of toxins.  It would be interesting if we could figure out a way to use them to clean the waterways w/o having them take over. How? I haven't a clue.  But it's interesting to contemplate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagga_mussel

I'm not certain what stinkbugs might be good for although there is a faction that purports to eat them  Yuk.

And giant hornets?  There again, not sure but hopefully they can learn to pollinate because they're eating what are left of our European honey bees.

As far as the wild pigs go, I have a one word solution.  Spam.