Did you know that more carp are farmed for the table world wide than any other fish?  Perhaps not here in the UK although in the middle ages carp were reared in ponds by monks to satisfy their needs for fresh fish when they lived a long distance from the sea.  It is in Asia where most of the carp is farmed today although in central and eastern Europe, there has been a long tradition in eating carp. 

Good!  Carp are omnivorous and forage around the bottom of the pond in search for food.  This can taint the flesh with a muddy taste, however by purging the carp in clean water (such as spring water) for a few days any traces of muddiness disappears.  Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recently took some of our organic carp and presented it to a taste panel at River Cottage and gave it the ‘thumbs up’.

In recent years organic trout and salmon have proved increasingly popular with consumers wanting a fish which has been farmed as sustainably as possible.  The diets which these fish are fed are the most sustainable commercial feeds available today but are still dependent on a significant protein element (fish meal) which itself depends on huge areas of ocean to be sustained.

In contrast, carp which are omnivorous, eat both plant and animal matter much of which can be relatively easily cultured in the pond where they are reared.  The species therefore aligns itself very well with organic principles where wastes such as cow manure can be used to fertilise the pond to stimulate feed production.  Moreover unlike trout or salmon farming, carp do not need huge quantities of fresh water and consequently do not pose a significant pollution risk. 

We have been farming carp at Upper Hayne to the Soil Association’s  organic standard since the summer of 2006 and we ate the first organic carp this summer which was superb! We now have three generations of organic carp on site and already fish mongers and restaurants are showing a keen interest.

We plan to have organic carp ready for sale in late 2008 onwards. Plans are also in hand to develop and refine our methodologies for rearing the organic carp in partnership with the Soil Association and other interested organizations.   If you would like more information or would like to be kept up to date with our developments please email us.