60 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



CARP. 



The State Fish Commission has often been criticised and held respon- 

 sible for introducing carp into the waters of this State. As a matter of 

 fact, these fish were distributed very generally throughout the United 

 States something over twenty years ago, in the hope that they could be 

 successfully raised in ponds and small inland waters unsuited for other 

 fishes. 



In the year 1875 about 700 carp were brought to California by Spen- 

 cer F. Baird, at that time the U. S. Fish Commissioner, who thereby 

 expended a portion of an appropriation made by the Federal Govern- 

 ment for that purpose. ' The species were secured from different rivers 

 of Europe; the upper Rhine, the Po, and the Danube each contributed 

 a portion. It was not the intention of the Federal Fish Commission to 

 introduce these fish into public waters that were already stocked with 

 good native species, but it was believed they could be extensively and 

 profitably raised in many sections of the country not favorable to the 

 growth of better fish. According to reports of the U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion, the demand became so great that in 1882 more than 7,000 applica- 

 tions were filed and more than 5,700 applicants were supplied with 

 from fifteen to twenty carp each; in the following year 9,870 applicants 

 secured fish, and the distribution continued large until about 1890, 

 when it began to diminish, but was not discontinued until 1897. 



In spite of the prejudice that exists toward the carp, which we believe 

 in most cases is based upon imperfect knowledge of the habits and uses 

 of these fish, we are of the opinion that their introduction has been a 

 benefit rather than a detriment to our waters — not as a general food 

 supply for our poople, but because of their value as a food supply to 

 better fishes; indeed, we believe it is due to their presence that black 

 bass, striped bass, and even shad have become so abundant. 



Carp are found in the larger markets at every season of the year, but 

 the purchasers are principally Chinese. In the Eastern markets they 

 find a ready sale at prices ranging, wholesale, from 3 to 7 cents per 

 pound. 



From a report of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, in 1904, we make an 

 extract from an article entitled "The German carp in the United 

 States,"*by Leon J. Cole, which throws considerable light on the intro- 

 duction of carp in California. It is as follows: 



The circumstances attending the successful introduction of the scale carp into Cali- 

 fornia, in 1872, by J. A. Poppe, of Sonoma, are better known. Mr. Poppe left California 

 for Germany in the spring of 1872. At a place called Reinfeld, in Holstein, he procured 

 83 carp of various ages and sizes, the three largest of which were two feet or 

 more in length, the smallest " the length of an ordinary steel pen." The fish were 

 placed in 22-gallon tanks arranged one above the other, so that the water flowed down 

 from the highest to the lowest, when it was dipped back to the top. These were put 

 aboard a steamer for New York. Many of the carp died on the way, the larger ones 



