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not be.exterminated in this country. I think it is the same way with the carp. It 
is here to stay. We can not exterminate it any more than we can exterminate the 
green grass of the fields. I do not wish to pose as an advocate of the carp—I prefer 
other fish myself—but I maintain that the carp has a place in good and regular 
standing in our big eastern markets, and I do not think that our great republic 
with its rapidly increasing population, can afford to sneer at even so cheap a 
source of food. 
In the course of my investigations and inquiries I met frequent proposi- 
tions that the government, or the respective state governments, should of- 
fer a bounty on carp. Nothing could be more futile than this, as has been 
abundantly illustrated in the case of the English sparrow. The best bounty 
that can be offered is an increased market—a growing demand that will 
make fishing for carp a profitable business. 
Nothing whatever has been said in the present report about protection for 
the carp in open waters, since, whatever may be the opinion as to the 
fish’s desirability, protection for it does not seem to be needed I am of the 
opinion, however, that the phenomenal increase of the carp in those waters 
where it has been longest will soon reach its maximum, if it has not already 
done so, and that as the various factors become adjusted a more stable bal- 
ance will be reached. It is conceivable that persistent fishing may greatly 
reduce its numbers. 
And now, should I attempt to sum up the principal results of the inves- 
tigation in a single paragraph, I should say that, whereas the carp un- 
doubtedly does considerable damage, from the evidence at hand it seems 
reasonable to conclude that this is fully offset by its value as a food fish 
and in this way that it can not be exterminated, and that the problem is 
how to use it to the best advantage. Efforts should be directed to encour- 
age utilization of the fish in all ways possible since it appears to be a re- 
source as yet comparatively undeveloped. 
