Carp problems abrewing?

[Burnt Ash]

Well that's torn it! In the last of his River Cottage - Gone Fishing series, I see that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his chums gave a general thumbs up to the culinary merits of carp. I gather, also, that some of our new-found friends from the EC accession countries of Eastern Europe have also been tempted to sample the bounty of this country's stocked carp fisheries. I'm sure those fanatical carp anglers are absolutely thrilled to bits by these developments: the thought of their beloved Clarissas and Jemimas ending up on the barbee and washed down with a nice Chablis. Trouble ahead, I fear.

Burnt Ash

 

[Shewie]

I think he cooked some on telly before, that was a couple of years ago though. I`ve sampled Carp first hand on a couple of occasions and don`t think it`s that cracking personally.

 

[deepcmonkey]

I believe he cooked carp from a neighbors lake (a rich neighbor!!), he had to prove it tasted nice in order to get them for free or something, he set up an eloborate filter system for the fish to get rid of the muddy taste.

I love his programmes very good stuff.

 

[Burnt Ash]

I love his programmes very good stuff.

Yes, he's a very natural presenter and always seems so genuinely enthusiastic for his various projects. I've always thought his programmes very watchable.

Back to the carp: I've eaten them several times on the continent. It was quite common to see carp, pike and perch in French supermarkets when I lived there 30 years ago.

Burnt Ash

 

[Angus Og]

I gather, also, that some of our new-found friends from the EC accession countries of Eastern Europe have also been tempted to sample the bounty of this country's stocked carp fisheries.

Burnt Ash

Ignorantia juris non excusat.

 

[Porcupine]

i dont think the average eastern european wil only eat something if hugh says its good eating, id even be amazed if more then half of them even heard of hugh.

also dont forget how the carp became widespread, it was held in ponds by monks as a foodstaple.


but maybe we will see a new trend, stiff lipped guards with their purdy shotgun next to their landrover at every fishpond,xenophobe united written on the back of their jackets.

 

[wanderinstar]

I was told the other day of one of our new EEC friends walking down the road with a dead swan under his arm. When asked what he was doing with it by PC Plod he said he was going to eat it. The PC had a hell of a time trying to explain that we don't do that sort of thing over here.
They ought to be given a book on our laws and customs over here and if they don't like it .....

 

[Sickboy]

If you fancy trying carp but don't want to go through the headache of catching, purging and dodging angry fisherman etc then head down to your local indian frozen fish counter, in the east end there are about 100 such places, all have carp in the freezers and fridges, some absolutly MASSIVE......

 

[combatblade1]

I think its a great idea, ive tried pike carp roach and perch, i rate carp and pike highly, i dont see why they shouldnt be a legitimate food fish.

 

[tonymac]

I believe when Hugh originally cooked carp on the manifold of his landrover in the series "" a cook on the wild side " this got more complaints from angry fisherman than anything else he ate on his culinary journey, even more complaints than the squirrel eating episode , can you belive it.
more power to the wildlife munchers of the world.

 

[sharp88]

The Polish workers were eating Swans aswel. Not somthing that hugh cooked up.

 

[sharp88]

Mighten I add though I admire them for being a bit deviant.

 

[spamel]

Also, a couple of carp. Not really that important in the grand scheme of things is it! I suppose the high price of a Woodlore knife isn't either, sometimes things have to happen for you to open your eyes so that you can say "It could be worse."

Anyway, it's like that joke:

Two beekeepers are discussing their bees, one asks the other "How many bees have you got?"

The second keeper replies "I've got twenty thousand bees!"

"And how many hives have you got?"

"I've got twenty hives. How about you? How many bees have you got?"

The second beekeeper answers "I've got a million bees!"

"And how many hives have you got?" asks the first beekeeper.

"I've got one hive!" Says the second.

"A million bees and only one hive?" exclaims the first with sheer surprise.

The second keeper replies "Yeah, f*** 'em, they're only bees!"

 

[woodstock]

I`ve sampled Carp first hand on a couple of occasions and don`t think it`s that cracking personally.[/QUOTE]

Me to, a muddy tasting fish didn't enjoy it, we obviously have different tastes from our eu neighbours plus I don't think they need any encouragement to deplete our fish stock.

 

[EdS]

having spent yesterday working at a community event for European Migrants I don't think many of them are actually that interested in taking "our" fish stocks.

They are as urban as the rest of the UK population. However I do know some locals (Bradford born and breed for generations) that are not opposed to taking some big carp, ducks, rabbits etc.

Hell, as a kid me and my cousins used to set night lines for trout.

 

[John Fenna]

Not being a fisherman myself, and for that matter, not eating a lot of fish either I did not realise that British fishermen did not eat the Carp they caught.
For what reason do they fish for them then?
Is it purely for the fun of jamming a hook into the mouth of a living creature, hauling it around by this hook for a few minutes then throwing it back to have another go?
I must be missing something here as that just sounds totally barbaric - worse than hunting foxes with hounds and foxes are a pest, not a carefully bred creature - but no one has become "fishing saboteurs" to my knowledge!
Can someone explain what it is that I am missing here - I am totally at a loss.

 

[Tengu]

Its to get out of the house for a few days.

and to excercise the fish, think how dull it would be for the carp if they did not have to examine each and every morsel carefully

and to keep angling suppliers in business, I think

 

[tonymac]

Not being a fisherman myself, and for that matter, not eating a lot of fish either I did not realise that British fishermen did not eat the Carp they caught.
For what reason do they fish for them then?
Is it purely for the fun of jamming a hook into the mouth of a living creature, hauling it around by this hook for a few minutes then throwing it back to have another go?
I must be missing something here as that just sounds totally barbaric - worse than hunting foxes with hounds and foxes are a pest, not a carefully bred creature - but no one has become "fishing saboteurs" to my knowledge!
Can someone explain what it is that I am missing here - I am totally at a loss.

I worked as a gamekeeper for ten years and I think that you are quite right, not to mention the drowning of worms! possibly the cruelest of the fieldsports, based on the misconception that fish do not feel pain.There have been sabs at some major fishing events but that freedom is another issue.

 

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

Where I live, carp are not a native species. Fishermen imported the German Carp about 50 years ago, and introduced them to Rice Lake and the Trent-Severn Waterway. Apparently it was so the fishermen had a more "sporting" fish to reel in. The environment has never been the same since.

After the Trent Severn Waterway flooded Rice Lake. They flooded it, so that boats could more easily pass through. The only place left for the Wild Rice to grow, was along the shore of the lake. Which is precisely where Carp like to thrash and stir up the mud and debris (I'm assuming to help eat whatever is edible there?). So with the waters and mud constantly being stirred, the wild rice could no longer grow. It now only exists in rare collections along certain marshes and swamps that are in the area, but not completely connected to Rice Lake.

I don't like the idea of killing off an animal that didn't decide to be there on it's own... but it destroyed what my family once depended on as our staple food source and trading good. Personally, the only good carp to me, is dead. So if people are finding a flavour in carp meat that they like.. well I'll catch a few dozen and serve it for low prices.

 

[Toadflax]

Can someone explain what it is that I am missing here - I am totally at a loss.

I'm not taking any sides here (for or against angling) and I'm going to try to be completely apolitical. I have fished myself, but don't at present, but would like to be able to do so in order to catch fish for food and at times I do suffer moral doubts about the validity of a catch and return style of fishing.

I have seen figures that say that more people go angling on a Saturday afternoon than go to a football match (figures of up to 3 million anglers in the UK) and, if we take a very simplistic view of society, I think that a very large number of anglers come from what would traditionally be 'the working class'. For any political party to come down against angling would be to risk alienating a large portion of the electorate.

I think that the view of 'the general public' is that the other field sports (hunting, shooting, etc.) are carried out by the upper echelons of society and are therefore seen as the trappings of privilege and wealth, and that the numbers that take part in these activities are therefore smaller. There is, perhaps, some element of class warfare in the opposition to these field sports and there are, perhaps, less votes to be lost by the political parties in banning or restricting them.

Angling is relatively inexpensive to carry out with a basic set of kit, and is therefore affordable to many people. I stand to be corrected on this, but my understanding is that shooting rights, salmons rights, etc. do cost quite a lot and are therefore less affordable for the general public.

It may, therefore, be that angling is the only means in this highly regulated country that the elusive 'man in the street' can satisfy some of his desires as a hunter, even though he has to return what he catches. Although it is by no means universal, I think that many anglers really do care about the fish that they catch and, given that they have caught it with a pointed hook, will treat the fish with care and respect as they return it to the water. The only analogy I can think of for this is the soldier who does everything he can to kill or wound an enemy soldier, but if he comes across a wounded enemy he will then do all he can to save him.


Geoff