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LOOKING BACK

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by James Rada, Jr.

Note: This is part one of a series about goldfish farming in Frederick County.

Frederick County’s Golden Immigrants

Hunting Creek Fisheries, Courtesy of the Author

History is obscure on how goldfish first came to the United States. The first recorded shipment was in 1878, but the specially bred Oriental fish were swimming in the American ponds and streams before then. Some records indicate it may have been long before then.

When goldfish came to America is uncertain, but one research paper notes: “The only reasonably well-supported record of a foreign fish introduced into this country prior to 1850 is of goldfish.” An article in Fisheries by Leo G. Nico and Pam L. Fuller suggests 1842 as the earliest date and that in 1879 “goldfish could be found in great number in the Hudson River of New York; most specimens were of drab wild colors, but a few could be found that were ‘white, red, and all intermediate conditions.’” Goldfish in 1879 were also sold in New York markets as a food fish, according to National Geographic.

One thing is certain. Once goldfish were in the United States, they found Frederick County, Maryland, to their liking. George Wireman wrote in Gateway to the Mountain that during the first half of the 20th century, Frederick County produced 80 percent of the goldfish in the country.

In 1878, Rear Admiral Daniel Ammens brought a shipment of these beautiful goldfish from Japan to the United States Commission on Fisheries. This is the first recorded entrance of goldfish into the United States.

My beautiful picture

It is these goldfish that most likely took hold in Frederick County, according to Ernest Tresselt. He was raised on a goldfish farm, Hunting Creek Fisheries in Thurmont, Maryland. He also ran it after his father retired in 1962. His memoirs were titled “Autobiography of a Goldfish Farmer.”

Because of the limited number of native freshwater fish in the United States, the United States Commission of Fisheries (created in 1871) and the Maryland Commission of Fish and Fisheries (created in 1874) introduced European carp into American waters as a supplementary food source for farmers.

Ponds were created for the carp on the grounds of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., and Druid Hill Park in Baltimore. For a shipping fee of two dollars per can, the government would ship carp by rail car and truck all over the country. Once delivered, the empty cans were returned to Washington and Baltimore.

Once Ammens’ goldfish came to the United States, they were kept in ponds near the carp. The goldfish produced so many offspring that they were sold along with the carp to anyone interested in them.

“Since Frederick County, especially the Thurmont area, was settled by Germans who ate a lot of fish, the fish in the area were used up by this time. German families were raised on carp and so many of them purchased carp from the government,” said Tresselt.

Albert Powell, former superintendent of Maryland fish hatcheries, does not mention goldfish in his manuscript, “Historical Information of Maryland’s Commission of Fish and Fisheries with some notes on Game.” This is because goldfish are not considered a game fish, which is the responsibility of the Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Because goldfish are ornamental fish and pets, they are tracked as a crop. Many reports, in fact, call goldfish a crop that was “harvested” in the fall.

A 1921 Catoctin Clarion describes a goldfish harvest this way:

“A sluice gate was slightly raised; at the end of the sluice a large wire basket encloses everything that comes through and a small dip net transfers the fish to buckets, whence they are taken to the sorting room. Here they are emptied about a quart at a time on a table with a sloping galvanized iron top, and as they slide by, four men separate the goldfish from the uncolored goldfish, the tadpoles, crabs, frogs, pond bass, and various other pond inhabitants. The goldfish are put into large floats and afterwards, by the same process above are sorted into their different sizes.”

Powell does, however, note in Historical Information of Maryland’s Commission of Fish and Fisheries with some notes on game that some of the fish introduced in the Druid Hill Park fishponds were golden in color, such as golden tench and orphes. They were among the fish that the fish commissioners began to ship to the public in 1878.

“That’s how goldfish found its way to the Maryland countryside, on the tails of edible carp. It is easy to speculate that one or more farms in Frederick County got goldfish along with their carp during the period when the carp culture in farm fishponds was advocated as a supplementary food supply,” wrote Tresselt.

On The Wild Side

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What Turtles and Birds Have in Common

by Christine Maccabee

At first glance, turtles and birds have nothing in common. Birds fly and have feathers; turtles mostly crawl or swim and are featherless. However, even amphibians—such as frogs, toads, and salamanders, who are mostly earthbound—have less in common with turtles than birds do, though that can be debated.

I read a lot. Mostly, I enjoy non-fiction stories that reflect the amazing mysteries of life, as it is and has been. All present day creatures on earth come from an amazing reservoir of ancient—mostly now extinct—relatives. Of course, we humans are no exception. Natural history, especially pre-history, before anything was written down, is especially fascinating, the evidence for evolution being found in fossils, some of which are hundreds of millions of years old.

So, the first thing turtles and birds have in common is that they are both unusually ancient creatures, having survived the fall of the dinosaurs. As Dr. Carr wrote in his Handbook of Turtles,“Turtles remained while the dinosaurs bellowed toward their doom in the Crustaceous, when the last Brachiosaurus laid down his fifty tons to rest.”

As for birds, yes, even the ones at our feeders, “they have more complex feathers specialized for flight than ancient dinosaurs did and are the sole remaining dinosaur lineage.”(According to a recent National Geographic article, “Why Birds Matter.”)

Due to a bird’s ability to fly away from danger (with the exception of a few, such as penguins) and a turtle’s amazing armor to protect vital organs, they are equally amazing survivors. Everyone knows the land turtle’s ability to hibernate and then emerge in the spring, even after the coldest of winters. Of course, many birds fly thousands of miles as they migrate to warmer climes, while others hang around and hunker down during periods of freezing rain and snow in trees and shrubs, their downy feathers providing enough warmth to survive. Incredible. If you have not seen it, I highly advise getting the film, The Great Migration, from the library. It depicts the awesome stamina and intelligence of migratory birds. Of course, turtles, in their own slow but sure ways, are mighty awesome as well.

Both birds and turtles are egg layers, but they deal with their offspring differently. As we all know, birds are fierce protectors and providers for their young, while baby turtles are totally on their own once hatched. Their eggs, however, are similarly in danger from egg-loving predators, such as snakes, birds, and humans (especially sea turtle poachers).

Both turtles and birds have no teeth. Birds use their beaks with great efficiency for catching and consuming prey. Similarly, turtles can tear an insect, fish, or plant apart easily with their sharp, horny bills. I avoid, at all cost, putting my fingers anywhere within reach of my turtles’ mouths, as they can indeed draw blood with a single bite.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of turtles is their strong shell, or exoskeleton, which protects their soft flesh and their endoskeleton. Birds, on the other hand have only weightless, hollow,  endoskeletons, allowing them to fly with the greatest of ease, unlike their brother, the turtle, who can only crawl or swim.

If there were to be a beauty show competition, because of their colorful plumage, birds would likely win over turtles. I would likely vote for the turtle, but then I am prejudiced. I have raised a variety of turtles over the years. As a child, I especially loved my map turtle, with its fascinating map-like markings. In the wild, the hawksbill sea turtle is wondrous to behold, with its impressive colors and designs all over its legs and head. Locally, the lowly male box turtles have gorgeous orange and yellow patterns, which distinguish them from the simpler females.

Both birds and turtles are precious entities and provide us mortals with inspiration and, hopefully, incentive enough to save them and their habitats, protecting them from plastic items that sadly now infest our oceans and waterways (affecting both birds and turtles that innocently consume them or become entrapped in them).

Not enough can be said for the need to protect these wonderful, ancient animals. As we protect them and their habitats, we are also protecting human life on this amazingly mysterious planet we all depend on to live.