The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a suggestion to help curb the growing population of an invasive species that bears a resemblance to a very large rat: Eat them.

The invasive species, nutria, is a large, semiaquatic rodent increasingly found in marshes in the United States.

As a part of its National Invasive Species Awareness Week, which ended on Friday, the federal agency released a list of invasive species that Americans can hunt, catch and cook to help control the unwanted pests.

Topping the list: the nutria, whose population is increasing and disrupting marshland ecosystems. The agency noted in its public advisory that hunting nutrias is not a total solution but is a start.

“OK, so how can we help?” the Feb. 20 advisory said. “Nutria gumbo. Their meat is lean, mild and tastes like rabbit.”