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Natural Histories: Carp

Carp

BBC Radio 4 - Natural Histories, Carp

Brett Westwood goes fishing.  Why is the carp king?

Brett Westwood goes fishing to find out why cultures around the world value the fish with a face that only a mother could love. From 2016

Brett Westwood goes fishing.  Why is the carp king? Dexter Petley author of 'Love, Madness, Fishing' knows some answers.  He went to live in a yurt in Normandy in order to spend his life carp fishing.  From there and a nearby water he brings us his tales of the river bank.  Carp fishing is now a very high-tech pastime.  Electronic bite detectors and gourmet bait balls are part of the business but an older intimacy with the carp is still crucial to land a fish; the angler must know how to read the water and track its hidden denizens.  Meanwhile the Natural History Museum's Oliver Crimmen, Japanese art expert Timon Screech, Steve Varcoe from Aron's Jewish Delicatessen and anthropologist Desmond Morris discuss why various cultures continue to value the fish with a face that only a mother could love. 

Original Producer: Tim Dee
Archive Producer : Andrew Dawes

Revised Repeat : First Broadcast BBC Radio 4; 12th July 2016

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