1912 AND FISHEKIES COMMISSION. 83 



renders waters roily and destroys much aquatic vegetation suitable as 

 food for ducks, and that in so doing it may be dinturbing aquatic condi- 

 tions generally to a degree sufficient to materially affect the existence of 

 other forms of fish and animal life. 



In favour of the carp the most salient feature Is undoubtedly its 

 commercial value. Already a considerable market for it has been 

 developed in the larger American cities, the average price to the fisher- 

 men being from ll^ to 2l^ cents per pound, and the chief consumers, 

 Germans and Jews. Trade in this fish from the waters of Lake Erie 

 has already reached no small proportions. Special seine licenses are 

 issued for its capture, the carp being such an active and wary fiBh that 

 it can but rarely be caught in gill or pound nets, and by means of thesq 

 seines many tons are now annually removed averaging from 5 to 8 lbs. 

 in weight. It is plain, therefore, that the carp wdll afford a cheap food, 

 not only to the Germans and to the Jews, whose fore-parents better 

 understood how to prepare the fish for the table, but also to the poorer 

 classes of the community in this Province as the population increases. 

 Moreover, a red caviar, much esteemed by the Jews, can be manufactured 

 from tlie roe of carp, and since no means as yet has been discovered of 

 rendering this caviar the blue-black colour of sturgeon caviar, it is always 

 easily recognisable, so that there could be no objection to the develop- 

 ment of this enterprise. The palate, sometimes called tongue, is in some 

 portions of the world considered also a great delicacy. Further, if no 

 other use could be found for carp, at least a profitable industry could 

 be founded by turning them into valuable fish fertilizer. 



Two other points in favour of the carp have been claimed by its 

 champions, namely that it is a powerful factor in the destruction of the 

 fluke worm, so injurious to cattle and siheep, supposedly consuming the 

 parasite which causes the disease while in its systic state, attached to 

 the leaves of grass, or while in its intermediate Ivost, the common fresh 

 water snail Limnaea, and also that it will consume the larv?e of noxious 

 insects, notably those of the mosquito. Moreover, the carp may, to 

 some degree, in rivers below cities do important service as a scavenger, 

 destroying the germs of certain human diseases. 



It will be seen, therefore, tliat there is something to be said for the 

 carp as well as against it, and as it has come to stay, it will obviously 

 be best to seek the greatest possible profit from it. The majority of the 

 citizens of the Province claim that the carp is not palatable, owing to its 

 muddy flavour, but this would appear to be due largely to faulty metliods 

 of preparation. The Germans have miany various ways of preparing the 

 fish into most excellent dishes. Dr. S. P. Bartlett, a champion of the 

 carp, makes the following suggestions on this score : — 



" Kill as soon as caught by bleeding, taking out all the blood. Skin, 

 soak in salt water for several hours, then parboil and bake, basting fre- 

 quently." 



Some dre.«?sing is also suggested. In any case it would appear that 

 popular dislike of carp as a food is in part, at least, due to prejudice. 



