Carp and other such things

[MarkEinOz]

G'day folks,

I have an issue that just keeps gnawing at me.

I am frustrated that 'we' need to keep buying fishstocks from hatcheries, which for the most part is a result of the difficulty in breeding our own replacement stock.

The species that are easy tank breeders eg Tilapia, Carp and so on are banned or so I believe in ALL circumstances. Or are they?
I do wonder if Tench might perform ok in AP?
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&ved=0CBMQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dse.vic.gov.au%2Fdpi%2Fnreninf.nsf%2Fv%2FDF4B2713C855E9B2CA25741 200110E5A%2F%24file%2FFreshwater_Fish_of_Victoria_Tench.pdf&ei=V3OdS8axNMyIkAW6jOjHAg&usg=AFQjCNHuMCMUcDi1h4MSW3Q24ebzWIlVbg

Do our closed systems not qualify to be a aquarium of sorts??

Also, (if that is the case) do any of you know of carp species apart from goldfish that are allowed to be kept. I am determined to prove that clean water cultured carp species are just fine on the plate. I just dont want to go to jail to prove it!!:D

[grassroots]

Has anyone tried breeding perch, or other types that we are allowed to keep?
I intend to try to breed my own in the future, hopefully naturally, to save on costs.

[Ravnis]

Tilapia were supposed to be easy to breed. I had difficulty at first getting them to breed till I started culturing and adding greenwater to the tank. Then they bred like crazy. Maybe if you had some perch in excellent water quality and added greenwater to the system, it might induce them to breed. There may be other parameters that are required as well, but green water is easy to make. Just put some system water in a container where it can get sun.

[GaryD]

Hi Mark,


I am determined to prove that clean water cultured carp species are just fine on the plate.
Talk to any Australians of Asian descent who live near the Murray River.......or to the many Eastern Europeans who think of European Carp as very good food......and you'll discover that the proof is already there.

It appears that much of the stuff that we hear about European carp (and tilapia and farmed rabbits in Queensland) is disinformation by government agencies (they seek to encourage community antipathy against the species as the first step) in trying to eradicate the pest species (unsuccessfully in most cases).

Gary

[arachdog]

To be honest Gary I think they would taste pretty bad straight out of the cess pit we call the Murray. After a bit of depuration they might be OK.

[GaryD]

Hi 'dog,

You're probably right.......but you'd have to do it on the quiet since handling live European carp puts you in breach of the law. Anyway, all freshwater fish should be purged in my view.......and that of the Australian aquaculture industry.

Gary

[arachdog]

Apparently Murray cod never develop an off flavours, even if they are living in a filthy mud pit, not sure if its true or not.

[MarkEinOz]

To be honest Gary I think they would taste pretty bad straight out of the cess pit we call the Murray. After a bit of depuration they might be OK.

So tell me Arachdog, have you ever eaten carp???

[Jagungal]

So tell me Arachdog, have you ever eaten carp???

I see them in the fish shops around here (South West Sydney), so someone is buying and eating them. There is a large Asian population and some say they consider them a delicacy.

I think I will let someone else try them, just could not bring myself to trying them.

It would be nice to have a kind of fish you could breed - but then again the hatcheries are keeping prices reasonable so they will do for now.

[arachdog]

No, I haven't Mark. My comment was more about the state of the Murray river, and the general need to purge freshwater fish, than Carp. But I'm perfectly willing to bow down to someone with direct experience in the matter. Are you saying that they actually taste really good straight out of the Murray ?

[DaveOponic]

Mark, I have eaten carp in Indonesia and enjoyed the taste. Have also tried Gourami but found it a bit bony. Often the fish sold in restaraunts in Bali and Java is on the small scale.

I can vouch for the ease of breeding Tilapia. I have kept Tilapia for a few years now. In the first year I tried "furnishing" the tank & pond with fine gravel and hiding pipes for the fry to hide. I observed the males making "pits" in the gravel and the females keeping the eggs in their mouths.

This year I have more fry than I need and I no longer bother with any gravel or inducements for the Tilapia to make babies. The biggest single factor seems to be the numbers of fish. When I had up to 100 Tilapia in a 100 litre tank - no babies. Now that there are less than twenty fish in the tank, it seems all the females are full of eggs.

I still have a few sucker fish in one tank and they seem to snap up a lot of the young - despite this I still have hundreds and hundreds of baby fish in my pond at the moment.

As for the taste .... I would rank Tilapia alongside bream - a good eating fish and very versatile.

I fully understand why they are banned. This fish is really hardy and breeds easily and often. They aren't too fussy about water quality or aeration and grow quickly.

If there was one fish I would love to grow here it would be Flathead. One of my favourites, flaky and great flavour.

[GaryD]

Hi Jagungal,


I see them in the fish shops around here (South West Sydney), so someone is buying and eating them.
That's interesting. I was always under the impression that it was illegal to do anything with European carp (other than kill them). Things may have changed.

One thing's for sure.......if they want to put pressure on the carp they should promote them as a food source......with no bag limit.

They already have a number of high profile fishing contests that encourage their removal from the river (for later disposal).

Gary

[arachdog]

One thing's for sure.......if they want to put pressure on the carp they should promote them as a food source......with no bag limit.

They already have a number of high profile fishing contests that encourage their removal from the river (for later disposal).

I'm not sure you've got the right idea there Gary. If you convince people that they are actually a great resource then suddenly you've got a whole lot more opposition to the true goal, complete eradication. You also risk enticing people to spread the fish to untainted streams and rivers.
Also lets be honest the fish is so prolific that its never going to be feasible for recreational fishers to eradicate it. If its ever going to happens its probably going to be with a virus which will no doubt cause outrage amongst the keen carp fishermen you've created.

[Jagungal]

Hi Jagungal,

That's interesting. I was always under the impression that it was illegal to do anything with European carp (other than kill them). Things may have changed.

Gary


Thats a good point when I think about it. I have seen them and thought "eeek". Maybe it is a similar looking species.

I will take some photos for better identification when in there next time.

Edit: I just did a little bit of googling and maybe I was not imagining things.

Looks like the Sydney market eats about 2 tonnes of Carp each week if I am reading correctly

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/196055/Graham-Lowry-Walford-NSW-Carp-Sections-4-5.pdf