ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH IN THE PACIFIC STATES. 
401 
we condemn tlie carp for this pernicious propensity, without conclusive evidence, what 
are we to do with the basses, trouts, salmons, sturgeons, and the entire sucker and 
catfish tribes, with known spawn-eating tendencies"? There can be no question that 
in the waters of the Pacific States the large indigenous representatives of the carp 
family — the Sacramento pike ( Ptychocheilus ) and the squawfisli or Columbia River 
chub ( Mylocheilus ) — are immeasurably more destructi ve to spawn than the carp. They 
are notorious spawn-eaters; the most attractive bait with which to catch them is 
fish spawn; and on the spawning-grounds of salmon and trout, where the character 
of the water is not adapted to the carp and where it is either entirely absent or quite 
uncommon, these fish are almost always present in large numbers and are known to 
subsist largely on the ova of salmonoid fishes. 
Considering the question of the relation between the carp and the scarcity of the 
perch in California, attention is directed to the report of the board of State fish 
commissioners for 1883-84, in which the decrease in the abundance of the perch is 
commented on and other factors than the carp assigned as the cause of the scarcity. 
The beginning of the scarcity of Sacramento perch dates from 1881 or 1882, and was 
probably antecedent to the general abundance of carp in public waters. The remarks of 
the fish commissioners in the report cited are as follows : 
III former years this fish was very plentiful, but has become very scarce in the last few years, 
owing to several causes, viz : 
(1) We believe the greatest cause of disappearance is.due to the reclamation of our tule lands by 
closing the sloughs, whereby ingress and egress are stopped, causing them to deposit their spawn in 
the rivers, and the spawn is lost by being covered with sediment. 
(2) By a continual drain upon the supply by Chinese and other fishermen, who are ever on the 
alert to find their hiding-places. 
Many people in California think catfish are to blame for the scarcity of Sacramento 
perch. Reference to this matter is made in the remarks on the catfish. 
The fact that carp uniformly command a higher price in the principal markets of 
the country than do many fish with well-established reputations as good food-fishes 
should prevent the reiteration of the statement that the carp is of no value as food. 
The additional facts that in the United States the carp has greater money value and 
is consumed in larger quantities than any other fish taken from private waters should 
be conclusive evidence of its food value and economic status. 
A great deal more has been expected of the carp than has ever been claimed by 
those whose experience entitle them to speak on the subject. In the United States, 
which is so bountifully provided with salt-water and fresh- water food-fishes, the chief 
utility of the carp lies in its adaptability to cultivation in natural and artificial waters 
in the lowlands and plains which are either destitute of food-fish or contain species 
inferior to the carp in size or edible qualities. Throughout the Western States there 
are closed waters, containing few or no desirable fish, in which the carp is susceptible 
of successful cultivation and is the equal in food value of any of the fish which are 
found in the same situations. It is to the stocking of such waters that the carp is 
eminently adapted, and it is thus being utilized by thousands of families in which 
it is the chief if not the only available food-fish. 
The carp is preeminently a pond fish, and when reared in ponds or similarly closed 
waters it will have food qualities, the degree of excellence of which will depend on the 
character of the ivater. Discrimination in the planting of carp should entirely obviate 
any necessity for considering the injurious qualities of the fish, except as a precaution- 
ary measure. 
F. C. B. 1895 26 
