Heck with native fish if your stock ever gets stolen, wiped out, diseased (be careful how you medicate food), you can just go out with a net and a 5g bucket and get more breeding stock from rural waters. I'm keen to try it out, but most of what I've read says nothern long ear sunfish spawn like crazy as long as you keep the water warm (but can live in cold water) and one male for several females. Grows pan sized.
Apocalypse Fish Rearing
- Thread starter patient33
- Start date
Hmmm - having the acres to plant food is a luxury - to begin with for most of us city folk - that's why we chose animals (fish and rats) which can live off of insects, rather than chickens and cows which require grain. A species of insect which can live off of common city or lawn grass would be an invaluable food source for raising fish. I was considering locusts or grasshoppers . . . THX for the input.
You can't grown corn in your scenario? Sorry, lol, just kidding.
Carp will eat anything. As a fish in "this world", they are considered a nasty, invasive fish. But...in history, they have already been used for what you're considering now. Long before Zebco, Shakespeare, Shimano and others came around, our ancestors were farm raising, trading and living off carp. That's the reason it even came to mind...its already been done
Hell, ancient carp were even considered to be ornamental and their form was often used in jewelry, carvings and decorations.
I won't go into detail on the scenario I described. But, carp don't even need a body of water. Just enough water to remain wet. Therefore, they are also transportable.
Carp will eat anything. As a fish in "this world", they are considered a nasty, invasive fish. But...in history, they have already been used for what you're considering now. Long before Zebco, Shakespeare, Shimano and others came around, our ancestors were farm raising, trading and living off carp. That's the reason it even came to mind...its already been done
Hell, ancient carp were even considered to be ornamental and their form was often used in jewelry, carvings and decorations.
I won't go into detail on the scenario I described. But, carp don't even need a body of water. Just enough water to remain wet. Therefore, they are also transportable.
This is fun but, the only way I'd stay in a city during end times is in the service of the most powerful thug I could find. People are crazy enough already. I've lived in both, when shiz hits the fan, head for the hills less ugly human interactions.
Good point Golem - Sunfish meats requirements for temperature toleration if it can live in cold water but Atmosphere breathing fish like cats, gars, and snakeheads get points for not needing aeration equipment - electric power is a factor during an infrastucture collapse. But native fish get strong points for being plentiful and easily accessible. Do sunfish eat rodents and 'other' meat . . . .
Agreed that staying in the city or anywhere near is a deathtap - you're assuming that you can be mobile in case of FEMA taking over during an economic collapse or biological pathogen release, in which case the military will effectively block every artery out of your town or borough.
Staying and raising fish in your backyard or basement with insects as a feed source is much more survivable than fighting your way out of a military checkpoint, though it can be done with the proper planning . . .
Besides your ability to buy weapons and hire 'thugs' will be greatly increased if you have a sustainable food source.
Staying and raising fish in your backyard or basement with insects as a feed source is much more survivable than fighting your way out of a military checkpoint, though it can be done with the proper planning . . .
Besides your ability to buy weapons and hire 'thugs' will be greatly increased if you have a sustainable food source.
Cyprinus carpio, Common Carp
(that's not me or my photo. The fish was caught September, '05 in the Mohawk River, New York)
From the same website:
Carp feed on a variety of foods including plants, insects, fish eggs, smaller baitfish, worms and crusteaceans. Anglers fishing for carp often make doughballs to use as bait they also will use whole kernel corn where it is allowed.
(that's not me or my photo. The fish was caught September, '05 in the Mohawk River, New York)
From the same website:
Carp feed on a variety of foods including plants, insects, fish eggs, smaller baitfish, worms and crusteaceans. Anglers fishing for carp often make doughballs to use as bait they also will use whole kernel corn where it is allowed.
Here's another kudo for the carp...
Prior to 1900, fish were a valuable food resource for the US. Refrigeration wasn't being used yet and ice houses were the common places to store perishable food items. Fish were being over-harvested and transported by rail to various ice houses.
From a different website:
The results of large harvests were declining stocks of lake and river fishes at a time when the population was expanding. To answer these concerns the U.S. Congress authorized President Ulysses S. Grant to appoint the US Fish Commission in 1871 to oversee the nation's fisheries interests. Among the first tasks was to consider what species to introduce to bolster the nations supply of food fishes. By 1874 the commission after long study issued a report entitled "Fishes Especially worthy of Cultivation" It went on to say that no other species except the carp, promises so great a return in limited waters. Cited were advantages over such fish as black bass, trout, grayling and others " because it is a vegetable feeder, and although not disdaining animal matters can live on vegetation alone and can attain large weight kept in small ponds and tanks".
Trust me, I am not a fan of carp myself. But, when you asked the question, the history of carp came to mind, again, since its already been done before.
One of the best ways to survive the future is to remember the history.
Good luck!
(and you can too grow corn!)
Prior to 1900, fish were a valuable food resource for the US. Refrigeration wasn't being used yet and ice houses were the common places to store perishable food items. Fish were being over-harvested and transported by rail to various ice houses.
From a different website:
The results of large harvests were declining stocks of lake and river fishes at a time when the population was expanding. To answer these concerns the U.S. Congress authorized President Ulysses S. Grant to appoint the US Fish Commission in 1871 to oversee the nation's fisheries interests. Among the first tasks was to consider what species to introduce to bolster the nations supply of food fishes. By 1874 the commission after long study issued a report entitled "Fishes Especially worthy of Cultivation" It went on to say that no other species except the carp, promises so great a return in limited waters. Cited were advantages over such fish as black bass, trout, grayling and others " because it is a vegetable feeder, and although not disdaining animal matters can live on vegetation alone and can attain large weight kept in small ponds and tanks".
Trust me, I am not a fan of carp myself. But, when you asked the question, the history of carp came to mind, again, since its already been done before.
One of the best ways to survive the future is to remember the history.
Good luck!
(and you can too grow corn!)
