Against Nature
On the face of it, fishponds may look romantic and natural. In truth, carp production is as factory-like as any other animal husbandry.

Fishes are intelligent and fascinating creatures. Behavioural studies have shown that fish have a very good memory and learn from experience. Fishes also display individual characters - some are bold and inquisitive; others are shy and passive - and are able to recognise their shoal mates. If left in natural environment, carps can live to up to 45 years. Carps have a wide field of vision and can even see above the surface. They have excellent sense of hearing and react to any subtle vibration, which helps them recognize danger in time. They can taste food without putting it in mouth thanks to taste buds on their body. We can only imagine what does it feel like to taste your own and companions' blood when being half-suffocated in a crammed vat - Prof. Andrzej Elzanowski, PhD.

Workers catch mature females and strip their roe after a hormone injection that synchronizes spawning, then roe from both sexes is mixed in a bowl for fertilization, and then eggs are transferred to jars (Weiss apparatus) for incubation. A carp's life starts on a hatchery, then young fishes are moved several times from one fishpond to another.

Stocking densities in fishponds are now up to 200 times higher than in 19th century due to intensive fertilization, feeding, and destroying unproductive plants and animals. That is why ponds are so stinky! The terminal stage starts in the autumn when, at the age of three, the animals are fished out and transported to store-ponds where, instead of hibernating, they stay awake until the Christmas slaughter.