NATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 
371 
While carp have recently been pronounced by the fish commissioners of several 
States an unmitigated nuisance, compared with which all the plagues of Egypt were 
but a mild chastisement, the very objection to the aquatic stranger — that it multiplies 
like some miserable species of insect — only adds to its value as a food supply for otter- 
farming. The otter being aquatic, his natural prey for the most part is found in the 
water — fish, frogs, snakes, etc. In his domesticated state he learns to eat almost 
anything — meat, cooked vegetables, fruits, bread, etc. Carp may be fed if necessary 
on different kinds of vegetables; thus between the carp and the otter all surplus crops 
could be utilized. 
According to statistics, the young carp, with plenty of food, will attain the large 
growth of from 3 to 6 pounds in one year. Nature has supplied the food for carp in 
Florida waters in the greatest quantities; the water-lily, bonnet-pad, grasses, and 
tender roots, which European waters do not possess, abound in the lakes. The water 
hyacinth, which has become such a menace to navigation in the St. Johns River, if 
propagated in a carp pond, would supply food for all time to come. In order that the 
carp shall be provided with a variety of food, a quantity of wild rice ( Zizania aquatica ), 
may be sown around the edge of the lake and in the muddy bottoms. To clear the 
lake of alligators would be a necessary precaution; and with fish, turtle, etc., this 
aquatic herd of fur-bearing animals would grow and flourish. 
The otter is a great climber, and, from the experience gathered from the study of 
the captive otter, it has been demonstrated that a particular kind of inclosure is 
required. The fence should be a combination of wire and plank, or a solid wall fence, 
set below the surface of the ground and extending beyond the lake on all sides. 
With a large inclosure (a space of 20 to 40 or 60 acres being desirable) conforming 
to the natural haunts of the animal, this aquatic herd need not feel their captivity, 
but fish and leap and play and rear their young as naturally as if they were in their 
Everglade haunts. 
Kissimmee, Florida. 
