American Fisheries Society. 135 



any device other than hook and line, thus making the angler the 

 sole beneficiary of this species. 



Presumably, if the sportsmen of Illinois could have the oppor- 

 tunity to legislate upon the question of the use of nets or seines, 

 there would be a practically unanimous vote in favor of abolishing 

 their use entirely. But what would be the result of that? In Illi- 

 nois there are thousands of people who earn their bread almost 

 entirely by taking the coarse fishes that the angler despises. These 

 people would be practically thrown out of employment, and many 

 of the river towns would feel the effects of losing a considerable 

 portion of their population. Thousands of dollars that are invested 

 in tackle and boats would lie and rot on the banks, and vast sums of 

 money that come from eastern markets in the purchase of these 

 coarse fishes would cease to pour in, for fish that refuse to be 

 ensnared by the anglers' lure can only be taken by net or seine. 



It is evident that the industry in these coarse fishes must be 

 fostered. It is a matter of no small commercial importance. Over 

 14,000,000 pounds of this class of fish were taken last year within 

 the jurisdiction of Illinois. The laboring man, earning a dollar a 

 day, cannot pay 25 cents a pound for the finer fish taken by the 

 angler. Carp, the much abused Cyprinoid, that has not had a word 

 of praise from any mortal since its introduction in this continent — 

 villified by every sporting paper from Maine to California, a night- 

 mare for the angler, and a general all-around Jonah — will yet loom 

 up like a Phoenix in the piscatorial horizon as the future cheap food 

 supply for the generations that are to come. Permit me to set down 

 here a little anecdote illustrating my opinion of the carp as a food 

 fish, and showing that the tirade against it is mostly prejudice. 

 Some two years ago, my esteemed colleague Col. S. P. Bartlett and 

 myself were at Springfield endeavoring to convince the legislature 

 that it was necessary for the Fish Commission to have a new boat, 

 because the old one lacked capacity for the accomplishment of the 

 work laid out for the year then ensuing. We thought we were meet- 

 ing with fair success, until one of the members arose and cried out, 

 in a ponderous voice: "That's the man," pointing to Col. Bartlett, 

 "who introduced those infernal Dutch Carp that kill all other fish, 

 and aren l fit for a dog to eat." We supposed we were lost; but the 

 bill was only on its secon.< reading, and we had anotner chance. 

 Col. Bartlett sent to Meredosia for a twenty-pound Carp, turned it 

 over to the chef at the hotel and gave instructions to have it well 

 prepared and put on the menu as "Red-snapper." The instructions 

 were followed and it came on in an artistic manner. When dinner 

 was served, not less than twenty of the members called for "Red- 

 snapper" from two to three times. After they discovered they had 

 eaten Carp, our bill passed without a dissenting vote. We never 

 heard anything more in the way of tirade against Carp during that 

 session. I give this anecdote to show that it takes a connoisseur at 



