72 American Fisheries Society 



of fish. He mentioned the fact that he had served carp as "silver 

 salmon" to a party of friends, all of whom thought it as good fish 

 as they had ever eaten. The whole difficulty lies in prejudice. 



Mr. John W. Titcomb, of New York, cited a similar illustration. 

 At a meeting of the sportsmen and anglers of Vermont, at which a 

 number of distinguished fisheries experts were present, carp was 

 served under the disguise of "red snappers." The carp, with a 

 recipe for cooking them, had been sent from Illinois by Dr. 

 Bartlett. Some of the guests thought they were whitefish, others 

 that they were pike-perch, but no one knew what he was eating 

 and all enjoyed and praised the fish. He spoke also of serving 

 smoked carp at a meeting of the conservation commission and 

 all agreed that they preferred it to smoked halibut. He admitted 

 that he had referred to carp in certain New York waters as 

 "vermin," but did not wish to be misunderstood. There is a 

 great demand for carp in New York City and many New York 

 lakes are filled with these fish, but there is no provision for taking 

 them except by angling and it would be better if several hundred 

 thousand pounds could be removed annually and utilized. 



Mr. Wm. E. Barber, of Wisconsin, explained how the state 

 handled carp during the summer of 1917. The Council of Defense 

 issued bulletins and distributed them generally to the mayors of 

 cities and newspapers. Then 2,000 lbs. of carp were shipped to 

 Milwaukee and sold out in less than an hour. Then 3,000 lbs. 

 were disposed of in a half hour, then 5,000 lbs., after which they 

 took all they could get. At Madison, Oshkosh and elsewhere, they 

 soon became popular. Now the fishermen are allowed four cents 

 a pound for the fish, the state adds another cent for expenses and 

 the city another cent. This allows them to be sold at six cents a 

 pound and it is believed that the state will take its whole output. 

 The carp, living in muddy water, naturally have a muddy taste, 

 but if they are cleaned and the skin removed, and are then soaked 

 in salt water over night they will be as good fish as anyone 

 could wish. 



Professor Ward also insisted upon the advisability of skinning 

 the carp before cooking and recalled his experience in Germany, 

 where the carp command a higher price than trout because they 

 are marketed alive and in this condition can regularly be bled 

 when killed for cooking. 



