afaik people first domesticated carp to keep the rice paddies clear of pests, the fact that they also helped fertilize the crops was an added bonus. i think ducks were also used, might have just been in the village pond and not the paddies themselves though.
That makes sense! And from there, they just occasionally collected the prettier ones until they started breeding for specific traits? I need to do some reading this weekend because now I am really curious.
afaik people first domesticated carp to keep the rice paddies clear of pests, the fact that they also helped fertilize the crops was an added bonus. i think ducks were also used, might have just been in the village pond and not the paddies themselves though.
That makes sense! And from there, they just occasionally collected the prettier ones until they started breeding for specific traits? I need to do some reading this weekend because now I am really curious.
yup! and i said 'domesticated' but i suspect that people invented sluiced paddies first and the fish just got in of their own accord and stuck around.