cooking carp

[wrasseman]

Hi just wondering if any of you guys have any recipes for carp that are worthwhile as I find the idea of just chucking dead fish on the bank for the foxes to be pretty revolting and I will be travelling through some carpy areas in the near future so I figure I might like to give them a try and I don't know anyone who has eaten them.
Cheers
Col.

[pingu]

well wrasseman this has been an on going sticky subject over here in UK
as here carp are mainly fished for on commercial waters and on Catch and release, and named and cared for lovingly buy the fisheries owners

unlike where you are in Australia where considered a nucience/eating fish

recently we have had lots of controversy over the eastern europeans whos tradition is to eat carp (especially at christmas) and poaching (or even the stocking by supermarkets to supply demand and help stop poaching )and although we did eat them here years ago is now sort of a taboo subject

there are cook books about and would expect most recipies for firm white fish(cod, halibut etc) should work, they do have a reputation for muddy taste but think this is unfounded(i did have in poland with mushrooms,mustard and vodka sauce and was fine)

sorry cant be any more direct to answer but hope this helps without stirring up peoples emotions


dave

[baitmaster]

well said dave could not have put it better myself .

i would be interested wrasseman actually to hear whether you have to kill them by law or do you have the option to release them alive as i was intrigue with this statement .

I find the idea of just chucking dead fish on the bank for the foxes to be pretty revolting

i just feel that if it was not the law why not just release them instead of chucking them up the bank

i know you eat them and thats not a problem as its the way over there and unfortunately people over here forget that not all countries treat fish as we do

sadly like dave i to can,t help with recipes for carp but i,m sure having access to the internet surely you might be able to find some good luck .

tightlines
kevin

[Rob M]

http://www.sportsfish.com.au/fishing...ater/carp.html

Regardless of how or where they are taken, all European carp should be killed humanely and disposed of well away from the water.

Rob

[fishypaul]

they are treated like vermin in australia if i remember rightly

[Greenheart]

I do know that in Australia, they are classed as Vermin & have to be killed. I've also heard that they are used for target practice usibg bows and arrows. While I don't object to killing them if they are used for food, I don't agree with just throwing them up the bank. I think it's a bit like Zander over here. Now ther'e established over there. They ain't ever going to get rid of them. And they should just accept the fact & treat em like any other sport fish.

[wrasseman]

Thank you for your replies. I guess I'll continue my recipe search elsewhere.
It is certainly true that our attitudes to carp in australia are very different to those in UK mainly due to the different ecologies of our countries and the different effects of these fish on our respective waterways. Personally although I release almost all the fish I catch, even redfin (english perch), I seriously doubt I'll ever release an australian carp alive as I've seen first hand the habitat destruction these fish cause, though if fishing in other places where they are not a noxious pest I would most likely release them. We do seem to be making some progress with carp removal in some places too with the Tasmainan population for example now close to biological extinction and some significant inroads due to electro fishing carp for fertiliser and pet food in the Murray-Darling system and finally a genetic manipulation which could possibly result in carp extinction within a few generations.

I'm afraid that it is unlikely that carp will be accepted as "any other sportfish" in australia as they just do to much damage to other fisheries and the environment due to their mode of feeding. Even redfin which are also widely despised are more acceptable as despite their potential as disease carriers, and the effects of their predation and competition with other species and a propensity to form stunted populations, they at least have no effect on the environment itself. That other major introduced fish - trouts while also disliked by many environmentalists and many native fish anglers have the least impacts of the lot, confined to direct predation and competition, processes that have generally already had all the effects they ever will after 130yrs or so of salmonid presence in many places. However the main reason for the realtive "acceptability" of trout in australia is that they tend to inhabit habitats where native sportfish didn't ever occur.
Cheers
Col.

[Greenheart]

What indigenous freshwater sportfish species do you have in Tasmania?

[wrasseman]

Not many native sportsfish in Tasmania I'm afraid, we only have australian grayling (small fish), river blackfish, estuary perch and eels and a heap of small baitfish species. Except the blackfish, none of these are particularly common or targetted though. Freshwater fishing in Tasmania is pretty much dependant upon introduced salmonid species and redfin. Tasmaina is different to the rest of the country however and as far as my original question about carp goes, this is not relevant to tasmania (I'm moving back to the mainland soon) as the single isolated carp population in Tas (in one lake) appears to be under control and on the way to extinction (and will likely remain off limits to anglers as it has been since carp were first found there until this is the case).
On the mainland things are different though with quite a few different natives, the biggest growing up to over 100kg.

Cheers
col.

[gullyworm]

LOL Carp fishermen all over the UK spend millions on camo gear etc to catch vermin