LINESVILLE — State conservation officials are delaying a ban on an odd "family tradition" in northwestern Pennsylvania: feeding bread to the carp at Pymatuning State Park.

The ban was to begin Jan. 1 but will be delayed a year for further study.

More than 300,000 people come to the park's Linesville Spillway each year because carp throng so thickly for the bread that ducks can walk on the fish.

State officials had previously said they wanted to allow only fish food pellets because bread and other food harmed the fish.

The state now says the primary concern is helping the U.S. Department of Agriculture control the geese population. Bread draws the geese, too, and the USDA won't curb their population if people are feeding them.