526 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



Probabl}^ the two regions in the United States where carp are 

 found most abundant!}' arc about the western end of Lake Erie and in 

 the Illinois Iliver and its tributaries. This investigation was begun, 

 however, at Lake St. Clair, this localit}^ being chosen because of such 

 complaints as the following, which appeared in a Port Huron paper: 



FISH IN LAKE ST. CLAIR — THE CARP ARE RAPIDLY DEBTROYING ALL THE OTHER KINDS. 



G B , an old fisherman, who has plied his trade on Lake St. Clair 



three miles above JNIount Clemens for twenty-three years, says in three years more 

 there will be no fish except carp left in the lake. The carp eats the spawn and 

 destroys the perch, bass and other good fish in those waters, and the supply is 



already much reduced. Mr. B suggests that the government offer a bounty 



of 3 cents or so for the destruction of the carp in order to save the other fish. 



This particular paragraph is quoted because it gave the starting 

 point for the field work, and because it illustrates so well the general 

 tone of complaint against the carp. The shallow bays of the delta 

 occup3"ing the upper fourth of Lake St. Clair afford an excellent place 

 for carp — except that possibly" the water averages a little cold for their 

 most prolific development — and they are to be found there in consid- 

 erable numbers. Furthermore, the usual comparative clearness of the 

 water makes it easier at times to observe the fish than in the muddier 

 waiters in which the}' are usualh' found. When the carp are rooting 

 about in the bottom for food, however, even clear water is made so 

 roily that there is little chance to watch them. 



After about three weeks at the St. Clair Flats, the remainder of the 

 summer, until August 31, was spent on Lake Erie, especially at the 

 upper end. During the last week in August all of the important 

 wholesale tish houses on the west and south sides of Lake Erie, from 

 Detroit to Buffalo, were visited to obtain figures as to the magnitude 

 and value of the carp fisheries of the lake. In November, 1901, about 

 three weeks were spent on Lake Erie, princi2:)ally at Fort Clinton and 

 Put-in Bay, in order to determine the relation of carp to the white- 

 fish, which were in the height of their spawning season at this time. 



In 1902 it was not practicable to begin the field work until after the 

 1st of July. As before, Lake St. Clair was first visited, but the con- 

 ditions there being unfavorable on account of heavy storms, W'hich 

 made the w'ater roily, investigations were renewed on Lake Erie, 

 especially at Port Clinton and at Sandusky. During the last season 

 of the investigations, in the summer of 1903, with headquarters in 

 Sandusky, the work was conducted for about three weeks, during the 

 spawning season of the carp, most of the time from a camp in the 

 marsh, some 20 miles above the city, near where the Sandusky Kiver 

 opens into the large bay of the same name. 



In addition to the observation of the general habits of the carp in 

 waters where it has become adapted to a new environment in such a 

 short time, several special problems were kept in mind. Thus a study 



