Fisheries (continued)

Prior to 1900, native fish are vital to the food supply of this country. Fish are harvested and shipped by rail to markets across the country. Species such as bass, pike, buffalo fish, catfish, and bullheads are all harvested in large numbers. This leads to declines in the fish stocks in lakes and rivers across the country at the same time the U.S. population increases markedly during the post-Civil War years. As a result, President Ulysses S. Grant appoints the U.S. Fish Commission in 1871 to oversee the nation's fisheries needs. One of their first tasks is to identify which species of fish to introduce to bolster the nation's fish supply. In 1874, the Fisheries Commission releases a report, Fishes Especially Worthy of Cultivation, where it strongly recommends introduction of carp because their food source is vegetation, and they can attain large weights even in small ponds (Figure 25).

Figure 25: Large Carp (Carp Gallery)

In 1877 the Commission imports 345 scaled, mirror, and leather carp from German aquaculturists. These fish are then raised for distribution to states across the country. In 1879, carp are shipped to 273 applicants in 24 states. In 1885, 30,900 individual carp are released into the Illinois, Fox, Sangamon, Des Plaines, Kaskaskia, Little Wabash, and Big Muddy rivers. By 1892, the carp have multiplied such that over 3,000 pounds are harvested from Clear Lake in a single haul (Alvord and Burdick 1915). In Illinois, the greatest increases in the number of carp occur between 1894 and 1897 when the fish increase in ratio from 9.8% to 56.6% of the entire catch of from the Illinois River.

By 1898 the harvest of carp reaches amazing levels. Captain John A. Schulte writes:

“From the information I can get as an official of the Illinois Fishermen's Association from all points along the Illinois River, the carp have brought more money than the catch of all the other fish combined. Long live the carp” (Alvord and Burdick 1915).

The proportion of carp within the total catch continues at these high numbers; in 1903, it is 54.9%. For 1908, an exceptional year for fish harvests, carp represents 64.4% of the harvest - 15.5 million pounds.

Forbes and Richardson conclude that the increase in carp, not the increase in sewage from Chicago, is the primary cause in the dramatic rise in fish harvests after 1894. From 1894 to 1899, fish harvests yields increase 2.1 times, while by 1907, seven years after the canal is opened, harvests rise by only an additional 17%. Forbes and Richardson cannot specify the reason for this 17% increase: it is due either to the greater supply of food in the form of sewage, to the growth of the fishing industry which is stimulated by the dramatic increase in the carp population, or to both.