394 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
waters. These fish appear to have multiplied rapidly, and it is recorded * that Mr. 
Poppe did a thriving business in selling their progeny for stocking purposes. 
In 1877, in exchange for eggs of the California trout, the California fish commis- 
sioners received 88 young carp from Japan; these were retained for breeding purposes. 
The United States Fish Commission, in May, 1877, imported carp from Germany, 
and in 1879 supplied 298 fish to the California commission; 60 of these were placed 
in Sutterville Lake, near Sacramento, and the remainder in a private pond in 
Alameda County, where they were at the disposal of the State authorities. 
The foregoing lots, aggregating only 394, represent all the carp from outside the 
State planted in California up to the time the consignment to private applicants 
was begun by the United States Fish Commission in 1882. 
The United States Fish Commission began the distribution of carp to applicants 
in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in 1882, and has continued to supply them as 
requested up to the present time, comparatively large consignments being made in 
recent years. Most of the original plants were made in private waters, but by the 
breaking of dams, the overflowing of ponds, and other accidents, the fish have in some 
localities reached rivers and other public waters. 
The carp was introduced in Nevada in 1881, when the State commissioner dis- 
tributed to applicants some that had been supplied by the United States Fish 
Commission. In the two subsequent years numerous assignments were made by the 
national commission, 190 fish being sent to nine applicants in 1882 and 2,285 to more 
than 100 applicants in 1883. Since that time there have been calls for but few fish for 
stocking purposes. 
GENERAL RESULTS OF CARP PLANTING. 
A detailed account of the early results of carp introduction in the Pacific States, 
based on the testimony of the recipients of fish, is given in an article entitled u Some 
results of carp culture in the United States,” compiled by Charles W. Smiley, and 
published in the Report of the United States Fish Commission for 1884. 
As early as 1879 the carp had become extensively acclimatized in private waters 
in California and furnished a large amount of food to people living in the interior of 
the State; this outcome was chiefly due to the distribution from Mr. Poppe’s private 
ponds. In 1880 the commissioners reported that wherever introduced the carp had 
grown rapidly in size and numbers, and by 1884 they had become so generally and 
successfully planted in the waters of the State that few calls were made for them, 
and the commissioners reported that the supply was enormous, the market price at 
times being only 1£ cents a pound. 
The history of the introduction of carp in the open waters of the Columbia basin 
is not known. It is probable that the fish accidentally gained access to the river by 
the breaking of dams or the flooding of ponds. It has become exceedingly abundant 
in the lower Columbia and its tributaries, especially the Willamette River. At The 
Dalles and Celilo the fish are also very numerous. Recent investigations by the Fish 
Commission have shown that the fish also inhabits the Snake River as high up as 
Glenn Ferry. Mr. Barnum reported the fish as abundant at Weiser, and cited its 
occurrence at Huntington, Ontario, Payette, and other points on the river. 
*The introduction and culture of the carp in California. By Robert A. Poppe. Report U. S. 
Fish Comm. 1878, pp. 661-666. Also Reports California Fish Commission, 1874-75 (p. 12), 1880 (p. 10), 
and 1893-94 (p. 74). 
