The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1902-12-25
THE pERNlcIous CARP.
che Imported Fish 10 Doing an Untold
Amount OF Evil.

che Imported Fish 10 Doing an Untold
Amount or 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. B. Sheppard,
dominion inspector of fisheries for On
tario, 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 fine-grained and
delicate fish, but its transplanting to
America, with its new variety of food,
had caused it to slide down the scale
until it Is about the least desirable of
our food fishes. It's chief fault is its
driving away other fish and gradual
ly discriminating them by eating their
eggs.
Latterly, however, it 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 he 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
not to be seen a spear of that plant
today. The same was true of the
Holland river, where there were at
one time 1900 acres of rice, now the
carp have eaten it 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
lnaliy into Lake Simcoe, but were 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 were 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 blacl
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 thi:
critical period ami while the fry wer,
too small to get out of the way of thu
carp the parent bass remained Oh
grari and rushed buII-Iike at every
thing that threatened their progeny
The bass, Mr.. Sheppard said, wa
the only fish which protected its youn,
in this way, and it was this pugnacit,
| WHiCif fldoC tACha ooN1 eh SfS'y ~ ~
to the angler during the spawning sea
son. At everything that looked ur
usual or dangerous the bass rushe
pell nell, and consequently was I'm
paled on the first hook which cam
within reach On this account tn
bass were particularly perfected b
: close season during the spawning ses
scD.
The carp needed no protection. 1ocr
iarly remarked Mr. Sheppard. It ha
got into international waters ard b'
come an international question 10
fishery experts and lucky would
them who could devise some means
getting rid of the carp family withou
DESTROYING the other varieties.-To
onto Mail and Empire.