A III erica n Fisheries ^V>r(V'/// 89 



who c-annot alfortl rod or lU't, fixed l)ait en- even minnows, who 

 sit on the bank content to catch, with such tackle as he can get 

 and such bait as may be procured without cost, this same carp, 

 for food for liimself and food for tlie fisli tlie angler fishes for. 



Discrssiox. 



tSecretarv Peal)ody: This is one of our most interesting sub- 

 jects, gentlemen, and lias lieretofore provoked considerable dis- 

 cussion. 



President: It out to be exi)lained that the sul)ject of carp 

 lias been tabooed in the American Fisheries Society for several 

 years, and Dr. Bartlett has taken advantage of the withdrawal 



of the ])r()hil)itinii to let us hear fr(nn him on this sul)ject. 



Dr. I>artlett: 1 lio])e the membei-s will not take it that T 

 should 1)1' affronted if they c-riticise the pa])er, or criticise it se- 

 verely. I have lieeii used to that for a great numy years. I want 

 to say that I have livi'd long enough to see all of my efEorts per- 

 fectly justified, not only in my own state but in a great many 

 states surrounding, and 1 have this to say, that the United States 

 PTish Commission lu'ver did a lietter jol) on earth, that produced 

 more food for less money than when they introduced the carp 

 in the waters of the state of Illinois. 



Dr. Barton \V. H\'ermann : I ha\e recently passed across the 

 continent from Xew Brunswick to Vancouver Island and heard 

 the carp damned every day. I thought the damning that the 

 carp received on the American side was severe, but it is mild 

 compared with that which yoii hear across the border. Xo one 

 in Canada has a kind word for the carp. No one seems to know 

 anything about the carp except to make the unfounded statement 

 we have heard so often, about its destructiveness in various ways. 



On Lake Elrie the fishermen are getting more car]3 than all 

 other species combined, and are getting more money in the aggre- 

 gate for the carp than for all other species combined, or for any 

 other species, throughout the year. A little later on the upper 

 Mississi])pi river near Dr. Bartlett's own home, the fishermen 

 were catching little but car]) at the end of August and early days 

 of Se])teml)er. and although they were getting but three or four 

 cents a ])ound for it, it was bringing more money than they were 



