The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-11-05
rHe PERNICIous cARP.
The Imported Fisb 10 Doing nm Untold
Amount of Evil.

The Imported fisb 10 Doing nm Untold
Amount of Evil.
The German carp, against which the
hand of every fisherman is raised be-
cause of his displacing better fish. is
accused of one more and still worse
crime by Alderman o. u. Sheppard,
dominion Inspector Of fisheries for On
tarlo, to wit: that of driving out our
best water fowl by eating their food.
Mr.. Sheppard. upon his return from
an inspection trip. stated that the
problem Of getting rid of or keeping
under the carp is now facing the fish
cry authorities on both sides of the
line. From all he could learn the carp
was in Germany ine-grained and
delicate fish. but ita 'ransplanting TO
America, with its new variety of food.
had caused IL to slide down the scale
until II Is about the least desirable OF
our food fishes. Its chief fault is its
driving away other fish and gradual
ly exterminating them by eating their
eggs.
Latterly, however, II had been no.
ticed that the carp were destroying
the beds Of wild rice. which forms the
| chief food of wild ducks. geese and
other aquatic birds.
Upon the trip from which ne was
| just returning Alderman Sheppard had
| noticed that In Cooks bay. Lake Sim
coe, where there were formerly hun.
! dreds of acres OF wild rice. there was
m I'm n s.fA laN Ill a,xs
| today. The same was true of the
| Holland river, where there we're at
| one time 1900 acres of rice. now the
carp have eaten IL literally root,
branch and seed. These places were
once the very best duck grounds in
the province, and now the ducks avoid
them.
| The carp were not introduced orig
inaliy into Lake Simcoe. but we're con.
| fined in the mill dam at Newmarket.
The dam broke and the carp got into
Lake Simcoe through the Holland riv-
| er. How to get them out or destroy
them passed any mans knowledge. as
they were the most tenacious OF life
under hard conditions. and defied the
best laid traps. So far as he knew
there was no carp in any Of the Musk.
Okla lakes.
| As to the chances for black bass in
the lakes where carp abound. he
thought they We're better than those OF
any other fish. The carp was not a
fish eater like the pike his mouth moi
being so placed that he could enjoy
this diversion. He was of the sucker
variety and destroyed other fish
tribes by eating their eggs. The black
bass was well armed to fight the carp
Only eight days elapsed between the
laying Of bass eggs and the Matching
out of the young fry. and during this
critical period anl while the fry were
too small to get out of the way of the
carp the parent bass remained on
guard and rushed bull-like at every.
thing that threatened their progeny.
The bass. Mr.. Sheppard said. was
the only fish which protected its young
in this way, and it was this pugnacity
which made them such an easy prey
to the angler during the spawning sea
son. At everything that looked un
usual or dangerous the bass rushed
pell neil, and consequently was i'm
paled on the first hook which came
within reach. On this account the
bass were particularly perfected by
close season during the spawning sea
son.
The carp needed no protection, iocU'
larly remarked Mr.. Sheppard. 1t had
got into international waters and be
come an international question for
fishery experts. and lucky would be
them who could devise some means OF
getting rid of the carp family without
onto Mail and Empire.