OU 
American Fisheries Society. 21% 
that each gun went off about ten times as fast as it used to, and 
all that sort of thing. So they went at it to seine out the carp. 
While they were doing this a gentleman in Milwaukee of a 
scientific turn of mind, investigated the subject, and demon- 
strated that the canvas back duck did not eat wild celery at all; 
and that if the carp really destroyed the wild celery it had noth- 
ing to do with the duck question. That scientific assertion dam- 
pened the ardor of the duck hunters somewhat as to their charge 
against the carp; however, they went to work and caught carp 
with seines at Koshkonong Lake. But they discovered that 
there were more bass in the lake than there were carp. Asa 
matter of fact, they caught comparatively few carp; and there- 
fore the ground that the carp had destroyed the supply of the 
canvas back duck, does not seem tenable. 
Now | am very much interested in this subject and have no 
prejudice either way. But when there is an under dog I have 
sympathy for him, and as everybody jumps on the carp, I have 
been waiting for some positive information, some real investiga- 
tion, to prove that carp affected the breeding of other fishes, 
that they destroy the spawn of the black bass, or that they inter- 
fere with the spawning beds. Now I think that this paper of 
Mr. Cole’s here, perhaps does not dispose of that subject en- 
tirely ; but it certainly gives a good deal of strong evidence that 
carp do not affect the spawning beds of other fishes. 
I wish if anybody has any positive information, the result 
of investigation on this subject, that we could have something 
definite before this meeting, so that we could tell whether carp 
were a real injury or not. 
Mr. North: We havea great many carp in Ohio, and a very 
large industry around Port Clinton, catching and shipping carp. 
There is no question, however, but that the carp are very in- 
jurious to duck marshes. They feed on the wild rice, and the 
marshes are deprived of vegetation; and the ducks absolutely 
do not come to those marshes which they formerly used to fre- 
quent in great numbers; but it appears to me that the carp 1s 
with us, and is with us to stay; and you cannot exterminate it 
by talking. The only way to do is to educate a lot more Penn- 
sylvanians to eat them, and thus reduce the supply. (Laugh- 
ters) 
