Carp, the other white meat ...

[Brad_Gentry]

Jason,
Great article, and the picture is worth way more than 1000 words!

PS - missed you at the summer shoot. It was a great time.

[Marvin M.]

Jason,

Excellent picture.  I love that.  Kind of like when the fence off a small section to show what deer do when they are overpopulated.

[Kingstaken]

Carp are a problem world wide:

NATIONAL CARP TASK FORCE

Mr SMALL (Murray) [7.12 p.m.]: I am most anxious, as are many of my constituents, to ensure that New South Wales is represented on the national carp task force. Many honourable members would appreciate that New South Wales rivers and waterways have been greatly damaged by the carp introduced into Australia. I am pleased that the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers have recently been cleaned up and now have a higher proportion of
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native fish. Carp are still in those rivers, but they are mostly large carp. The carp in the Lachlan River, the Darling River and the Great Anabranch, as well as in most rivers in Australia today, have knocked the environment about enormously. I am pleased that the Minister for Mineral Resources, and Minister for Fisheries is in the Chamber to hear what I have to say on behalf of my constituents and is prepared to respond.

Bob McFarland is involved in utilising carp in an area near Curlwaa. He is a partner in a manufacturing plant that handles up to 10 tonnes of carp per day. Carp are combined with other products such as citrus peel waste to make fertiliser and pet food. It is important that New South Wales is represented on the national task force which is looking at the problems caused by carp and ways to reduce carp numbers. I do not believe that carp will be completely eradicated; I would like to think that that was possible, but it will be difficult. My Murray promotional media tour will be held on 10 and 11 June this year. As part of the tour we will visit the Oxley and Lachlan rivers. The great Cumbong swamp is at the lower end of the Lachlan River, in which carp are causing the most damage, including erosion of its banks.

[Juniper Bow]

For a while there was a raptor rescue center in the area that would take carp to feed injuried birds such as eagles. There were a couple of fish that I didn't want to eat, giving them to this organization didn't feel like a waste. Maybe there are other uses out there for carp other than the table or the trash? I know a person that swears by fish as an excelent garden fertilizer. How about bait for small predator traps or for bears where baiting is legal (and is exceptable to your personal set of ethics).
It seems like from a management prospective it really doesn't matter what you do with the fish. If you are like me though, if you take a life you kind of feel like it should be put to use.
Nice fish by the way! Juniper Bow

[**DONOTDELETE**]

They make great garden fertilizer too guys!

[LBR]

They do make great fertilizer, and hog food.  If you have the time and taste for them, they are edible smoked (don't care much for the taste myself, and the forked bones are a hazzard if you were to swallow one).  

The best recipie I've had was the same one used to can coho salmon--most of the bones are removed, and the smaller ones become edible in the canning process.  Looks and tastes like pink salmon, but it's a ton of work and you have to really like canned salmon--one recipie makes a dang bunch.

There's a line everyone has to draw for themselves.  More power to everyone that has the time, knowledge, and inclination to use every part of every critter they kill.  If you want to use the bladder of a deer for a water bag, more power to you.  If you can find a use for the bugs and mice you kill in the house, you have my admiration.

Carp are, in most areas at least, a pest.  We can't always utilize them as food.  Sure, deer are considered pests in some areas also, and in some places they go to waste, but they have to be thinned out for the good of the herd and the area in general.  It makes more sense to me to have some of them go to waste rather than let them be and ruin the entire area.  I feel the same way about carp.  Fertilize the garden (some Indians used them for fertilizer), feed the hogs if you have them, or let them feed nature.  As was already stated, they are non-native and will destroy the habitat of native fish and plants.  Ask some Aussies about what non-native critters can do to the ecosystem.  Talk to some of the plantation owners there in S.C. about feral hogs.  You will get the picture.

Now, with that said, does anyone have a recipie for armadillo?  I don't think they are even good for fertilizer.........

Chad

[paleFace]

sounds like we could could have one heck of a Trad Gang carp hunt. reading the article sounds like they might at some point hire commercial fisherman, reckon they would hire us?  we could then donate the funds to St. Judes and have way to much fun....

[John Scifres]

I used to never shoot carp because I thought it was wrong to kill something you didn't eat, even if it was fun.  Then I justified it by calling it pest control.  Then I wondered if pest control should be so much fun.  Ain't that a slippery slope?

[W.Tim]

Brian, GOOD SHOOTING