68 Conservation Department 



ment and catching of game fish. They are certain that they feed on 

 the spawn of game fish and that they destroy the vegetation that 

 is in the last analysis the source of the food of game fish as well 

 as of some of the wild ducks. These and numerous other ques- 

 tions have been submitted to us during our study this past summer. 

 Some of the questions can be answered even from this brief survey, 

 others will require more time. 



This preliminary report on carp control studies is submitted 

 under the following: 



1. Methods of seining. 



2. Statistical evidence. 



3. The habits of the adult carp. 



4. The food of the adult carp. 



5. The habits of the young carp. 



6. The food of the young carp. 



7. General considerations. 



Methods of Seining. — To make statistical studies of the carp 

 a large number of individuals is necessary. To obtain this material, 

 without encroaching upon the time of the scientific staff, the 

 services of Mr. Howard, a trained carp seiner from Bayport, 

 Michigan, were procured. He furnished his own equipment con- 

 sisting of a flat-bottomed power boat, scows and row boats, a 

 winch engine mounted in the stern of the power boat and two 

 half mile seines, one six feet and the other twelve feet wide. These 

 seines were one an a half inch mesh and each was fitted with a 

 bag or pound forty feet deep. The nets were heavily leaded and 



Bag or pocket of net approaching back stop 



