Carp!

[foxy]

In Australia carp are an invasive species, they are an Asian variety and supposedly are 90% of the freshwater species. There have been many attempts to try and rid the waterways of carp but a program on the ABC called, 'Eat the Invaders' had this interesting episode about carp.

 

[Clint]

I don't think I'd eat carp over here as I spend time trying to catch them! They're treated carefully on the bank,have any hook marks or other stuff treated with koi med or similar then returned. I do fully understand the invasive species thing. Ironically carp are not a native species of the UK also,neither are rabbits!

 

[Stu]

There was a problem with a lot of the Eastern European folk catching an eating our prized mirror carps. I'm not sure if that's still the case.
There aren't many in our canal systems these days - they're mostly in lakes and put there.

I genuinely don't think they realised we don't eat them. They're native to Eastern Europe.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I remember carp poaching was big news when the Polish and Lithuanians arrived here -


Think you know someone with a weird job?

Newsbeat has been speaking to Martynas, who spends his days on riverbanks educating fellow Lithuanians about not taking carp home to eat.

A carp fisherman in Poland

It's become a problem because in eastern Europe you can take fish from rivers and lakes.

When anglers moved to the UK from places like Poland and Lithuania, they brought the practice with them, but it's not allowed in the UK.

"There are many Lithuanians and Polish people who play by the rules," he told Newsbeat.

"But there are many who don't know what the rules are. We have been making leaflets in different languages to make them understand."

He told Newsbeat the problem is difficult to tackle (fishing pun alert!) because it's a sport that people start young back home.

"I have been fishing since I was three years old. I caught many fish and it's not a problem to take them home.

"It's all by the rules and people coming here don't understand it's different rules. You must catch and release."

That's what message Martynas and his colleagues from the Angling Trust are trying to hammer home.

Carp is a bit like turkey in eastern Europe - Lithuanians tuck into a big fish instead of a big bird at Christmas.

However, Martynas thinks that there is no need for his fellow countrymen to eat carp they have caught themselves.

"It's not a problem to get a carp to buy in the shop. Even Tesco sell them.

"It's a traditional thing, people eat fish. It's not just for Christmas, it's all year round."

Here at Newsbeat we'd heard that people like to keep their carp fresh by keeping them in the bath in the run-up to Christmas.

"It's not traditional - it's just in Lithuania. We can buy a live carp in the supermarket, which is kept in a tank live.

"Once you get it home you want to keep it live for a bit longer. You can keep it in the bath if you want."

But how do you shower if you have a big carp in your tub?

"No - we only keep it for a few hours. If the fish is still alive it looks nice."

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[Graz]

I've heard it can be quite tasty and I guess if you live somewhere it's a problem then why not eat them.

As others have mentioned though I also fish for them so I'd rather they were put back in the lake, river or canal for others to enjoy. I'm a member of a small angling club with a lake about ten minutes walk from my house, which is very handy. Unfortunately the farmer, who's land it's on, tends to employ Eastern Europeans at harvest times and the odd dodgy static rig has been found by members in our lake from time to time.

It's odd that I don't think they're native to this country necessarily, at least not the big ones bred for fishing, but they are in our rivers and canals and haven't taken over. I guess they prefer warmer climes though so our cooler waters keeps their reproduction rate down.

 

[Stu]

I've heard it can be quite tasty and I guess if you live somewhere it's a problem then why not eat them.

As others have mentioned though I also fish for them so I'd rather they were put back in the lake, river or canal for others to enjoy. I'm a member of a small angling club with a lake about ten minutes walk from my house, which is very handy. Unfortunately the farmer, who's land it's on, tends to employ Eastern Europeans at harvest times and the odd dodgy static rig has been found by members in our lake from time to time.

It's odd that I don't think they're native to this country necessarily, at least not the big ones bred for fishing, but they are in our rivers and canals and haven't taken over. I guess they prefer warmer climes though so our cooler waters keeps their reproduction rate down.

They're actually native to Eastern Europe and across Asia, so they're used to cold.
I think they're just slow breeders and as you probably know, they take some years to get to a decent size.