The rarest of all carp

Think of a carp today and you’ll probably picture either a large semi-scaled creature that’s nearly as big as the angler who caught it, or a sleek multicoloured fish in a koi pond. Both are cultivated forms of once wild fish. One, from Europe, was bred to grow large for eating; the other, from Asia, for its ornamental appeal.

The carp bred for eating (now also for their value to anglers) are the result of two thousand years of selective breeding by fish farmers. This has resulted in cultivated strains of ‘king’ carp that grow quickly and can reach weights of 100lb. Some were bred to be semi-scaled (known as mirror carp) as they required less preparation (descaling) before cooking. Some (known as common carp) retained the original full scaling of their ancestors.

What, though, became of the fish from which the modern strains were cultivated?

True wild carp

The original true species of wild carp evolved in the Black and Aral seas following the last Ice Age then migrated into and up the River Danube. They survived in the Danube until the end of the last century, although movements of fry by people had spread the carp to the Rhine Watershed by the 12th century and the Altlantic watersheds of France in the 13th century.

Sadly the wild carp of the Danube are now virtually extinct. Known locally as Sazan, they were driven from existence by people who built dams across the wild carp’s native river (the dams flooded the Danube’s once shallow spawning plains). The wild carp also succumbed to cross-breeding with modern strains of king carp that had somehow found their way into the river. Several of the few remaining wild carp were saved by a research institute and placed in a protected lake in Slovakia.

Roman carp

When the Roman Empire reached the Danube, at a place called Carnuntum (opposite the modern-day Devin Castle near Bratislava, on the border between Slovakia, Austria and Hungary) in circa 15AD, the Romans discovered that wild carp were a regional delicacy. Local fishermen had developed flat bottomed punts that could glide across the shallow plains when the carp were shoaling there ready to spawn. They caught the fish in nets and found them to be very sweet when eaten. (This was because the carp had evolved in the powerful currents of the Danube and developed the ability to store large amounts of blood sugar in their muscles. It also enabled explosive bursts of strength which, combined with the wild carp’s torpedo shaped body and large deeply forked tail, enabled it to swim incredibly quickly.) The Romans, being expert fish farmers and entrepreneurial types, are thought by some to have harvested the fish and exported them to their provinces as a commercial item once an invasion was declared successful and trade established. (It is thought the fish were transported in wooden barrels filled with water.) There is a possibility that the descendants of these Roman strains of carp remain in mainland Europe, perhaps in remote lakes near to their settlements, but the likelihood is slim. Once their rule ended, it’s likely that their fishponds would have been plundered. (The Roman connection with carp, as with the monastic connection below, is subject to academic dispute due to lack of evidence.)

Norman carp

Fish farming saw a resurgence in the Middle Ages, encouraged by the spread of the Christian faith and in particular Cistercian monasteries where monks were forbidden from eating meat during their fasting periods. Very old strains of carp can be found in and around the stew ponds of monasteries, particularly those in France. The Cistercian order arrived in Britain following the Norman invasion of 1066. With the new monarchy and religion in place, the monks didn’t have to pay taxes. They exploited this loophole by importing and exporting vast amounts of goods. (Folklore around waters such as Llyngwyn and Pant-y-llyn in Wales suggests that carp may have been imported by the monks at local monasteries in the late 1300s or early 1400s. Not ‘Norman’ by timeline but often referred to as such due to the connection with Norman fishponds and the monks.)

Late Middle Ages carp

By the 1200s, carp were being ‘farmed’ in Europe. Fry were being taken from their native rivers and stocked into fishponds. In 1258, entrepreneurial fish rearer Count Thiabut V of Champagne stocked huge numbers of carp fry into his ponds at Igny-le-Jard in France. By the early 1300s, large scale production of carp using in-stream ponds and straw as an artificial spawning substrate were in use. In 1367 the Barons of Rosenberg in Wittingau, Bohemia, began breeding carp and transporting them throughout central Europe – especially to Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria and Poland (where the popularity for eating carp remains to this day). The operation was huge, with circa 30,000 acres of carp ponds in use. Whilst no written or archaeological evidence exists, there is likelihood that carp were introduced to Britain at this time. (For the avoidance of doubt, all carp imported to Britain would have been domesticated/cultivated. Thus the true wild carp has never been present in the UK.)

Post-medieval carp

By the late 1500s carp were well established in Britain. They spread further in the 1600s and 1700s due to the trend for wealthy landowners to build lakes on their estates and stock them with fish. (Carp were gifted between these landowners.) Estate records of the time reveal that these carp were streamlined (up to 33 inches long) and grew to approximately 15lb. The trend for estate lakes fell out of fashion in the 1800s, as did the British appetite for eating carp. (Britain, being an island, had a ready supply of low-cost sea fish which were deemed to be more palatable.) Consequently, carp imports and fish farming slowed whereas they accelerated in mainland Europe. This is why some wild carp enthusiasts (wrongly) think that the oldest strains of feral carp exist in Britain. Whilst the island may not have benefitted from the prevalence of more evolved (selectively bred) strains during the past two hundred years, its strains had ample time to revert to a feral form. (Hence the surprise when the Polish carp stocked into Redmire Pool in 1934 grew to record-smashing weights.) But there are waters in mainland Europe that were stocked (once) before carp were introduced to Britain.

Feral carp

Once freed from the selective breeding regime of the fish farmer, carp revert to a wild-like form through successive generations of breeding (and in-breeding) in the wild. They become smaller and leaner, with fins that appear disproportionately large for their body. Their barbules, often their mouths, become much smaller, and their heads may take on a bluntish look. Ultimately their offspring will be fully scaled (no large or partial mirror scaling) and to a casual observer will look like a genuine wild carp. But they are not wild carp; they are feral carp. The tell-tale giveaway is that all feral carp have a notch behind the head where the shoulders start. (The true wild carp has no notch, the transition from head to shoulders is perfectly smooth.)

As a rule of thumb, the ideal shape of a feral carp has a body length to depth ratio (excluding fins) of 4.5:1 (see the Wild Carp Trust logo for the proportions), has a minimal notch behind the head and no pronounced ‘shoulder’, and tapers evenly to the wrist of the tail (which may seem quite thick for the size of fish). Weights up to 5lb are common, 5-10lb are specimens, and feral carp over 10lb are exceptional. In some waters with rich food sources or low competition, the carp may grow bigger; but rarely will they exceed 15lb. See wild carp identification for more guidance.

Feral, wild-like, wild-type, heritage, historic, ancient…but not wild?

What the Wild Carp Trust is about, therefore, is the protection and adulation of our oldest strains of feral carp. The older the strain of carp, and greater the number of years of reversion in the wild, the greater the likelihood that it will resemble a wild carp (hence why we call them ‘wildies’ or ‘wild-type’ carp). It’s also likely that the strain was more wild-like (less cultivated) than modern varieties at its time of stocking, giving it a head start in the reversion race. Whilst the true wild carp might be virtually extinct, these ancient feral forms are the closest we’re likely to get to the ‘real thing’.

When searching or fishing for wildies, remember that biggest isn’t best. Rather, it’s about the age and provenance of the strain. “The older the strain, and the greater the degree of reversion, the bigger the reward.” – Fennel Hudson

Small really is beautiful.