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CARP Distribution: Carp were introduced to the British Isles in the middle ages, although it was not until several centuries later that the King carp that we fish for today became widespread. The original 'wild' carp that were introduced and reared in ponds for food were long, slender scaled fish that rarely reached a weight of ten pounds. Today carp can be found around the globe. From New Zealand to China, carp are amongst the most widespread of all fish species. This is a far cry from their natural distribution and thanks solely to the hand of humans. Features: Apart from their large size, which sets them apart from all other coarse fish, carp are rarely mistaken for any other species of fish in the UK. Carp have a large underslung mouth with four barbules around the lips. Colour can vary greatly from dark brown to grey. Selective breeding to improve the bloodlines of carp has led to the king carp that we see today. King carp not only grow much larger and much faster than their wild cousins, but selective breeding has also led to the breeding-out of scaling. Whilst scaled carp still exist, mirror carp, with a few scales, and leather carp, with no scales at all, have been developed. Diet: Thanks to their large size carp are able to take almost any kind of aquatic food. Although their underslung mouth suggests a bottom feeder, carp are quite capable of feeding on the surface and can often be seen swirling at emerging food morsels during the warmer months of the year. Spawning: In the cooler climate of Northern Europe carp do not spawn every year. The water temperature must approach 20 centigrade for carp to begin spawning and for the eggs to develop. For this reason spawning is often quite a rare sight in the UK. Because of our short summers and cool temperatures young carp face a very stiff struggle for survival. In many fisheries natural recruitment of carp is unheard of. When they do spawn, carp prefer dense stands of soft aquatic plants, Carp can suffer quite extensive damage when spawning on rocks, although they appear to recover from these injuries within a few weeks. Growth: Carp are one of our fastest growing fish species. In good conditions, carp will reach four ounces within the first year. One pound within two years and ten pounds within four years. Carp grow for between ten to fifteen years before they no longer increase in length. Weight can vary greatly though and spawn can add twenty percent to the weight of a female carp during the Spring months BREAM Distribution: Found throughout Europe Bream are an important commercial species in Eastern Europe where they are harvested with huge beam trawlers from rivers and lakes both for human food and for animal fodder. Most often found in lowland rivers and lakes, particularly the sluggish wide rivers in the East of England. Features: A very deep bodied fish, bream are much narrower in profile than other species, such as carp. Small bream may be confused with roach, which they share a similar silver colour. The bream lacks the red eye and fins of the roach and the anal fin is much longer in the bream extending almost to the tail. In larger bream a dark bronze back blends into an almost black stomach on large specimens that sets them apart from other coarse fish species. In the very largest fish the shoulders become very thick-set giving the bream a bullish appearance. Diet: Bream are almost unique amongst coarse fish in taking very similar prey throughout the bulk of their lives. From a length of approximately 25mm to the largest bream of nearly 19 pounds, bream feed almost exclusively on bloodworm. Bream require huge numbers of chironomids each day to survive. A five pound bream may consume a hundred thousand animals each day. A shoal of bream will follow a patrol route around a lake or along a river stopping to feed on the beds of chironomids as they go. Although the bream follow a similar route each day they do not stop at the same spots. The bream will sample the mud on the lake bed at different points only stopping to feed when the densities of chironomids are high. A shoal of bream is likely to very quickly reduce the population of chironomids and may take several weeks to re-establish themselves. Bream feed upon chironomids by hoovering up the animals, along with a large amount of mud and debris from the lake bed. In the mouth the prey are separated from this debris by special layers of fine hairs attached to the gills. The balls of chironomids are then swallowed whilst the debris is spat out. Spawning: Bream begin to mass for spawning at the beginning of May. Spawning occurs when the water temperature reaches 14 centigrade, which generally occurs in late May or early June. The male bream reach the shallow weedy spawning bays first and establish small territories from which they try to exclude other males. The biggest and strongest males get the best areas, normally those with the thickest stands of plants on which the eggs will be laid. The females enter the spawning bays a few days later and spawning normally occurs around dawn and dusk. Each female will be attended by several males, each vying for the chance to spawn with her. The larger females can produce several hundred thousand eggs which are liberally dispersed over the submerged plants. Growth: Small bream grow more quickly than roach or rudd when feeding conditions are good. By the end of their first summer they will measure approximately 40mm in length and resemble the adults in miniature. In poor environments bream will be smaller than roach at the end of the first Summer and this is a good sign that recruitment of bream will be poor. Once they have survived their first Winter the shoals of bream will be established that will last throughout the remaining twenty years of their lives. The bream will reach sexual maturity after five years at a weight of only a couple of pounds. They will continue to grow for almost the whole of their lives, only limited by the amount of small chironomids present. |
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