Restaurant Owner Shaken by Koi Seizure (I feel safer...NOT)

[The Straight Story]

Restaurant Owner Shaken by Koi Seizure


FREEPORT, Maine (AP) -- Armed game wardens seized 10 exotic fish from the tank of a popular Chinese restaurant, leaving its owner shaken and outraged.

"They treated me like a criminal," said Cuong Ly, who escaped from Vietnam 25 years ago. "I lived under communism and I felt like I'm back there again."

Ly, 45, said his pet koi were like family members and their confiscation in what he described as a heavy-handed raid made him "want to explode inside."

After obtaining a search warrant, two uniformed wardens and a biologist, accompanied by Freeport police, visited China Rose on Wednesday, taking away the 10 fish that ranged in size from 12 to 14 inches (30.5 to 35.5 centimeters).

The koi had been on display since Ly opened the restaurant nearly 15 years ago and he credited them for bringing good luck to the business in a way akin to the arrangement of articles in the ancient Chinese practice of feng shui.

A few years ago, however, Maine outlawed the importation and possession of koi, and Ly was charged with importing freshwater fish without a permit.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FISH_SEIZURE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT

[The Anti-Neo Con]

1. Maybe the guy can beat this charge.

He could say this was ex post facto since he had the fish for 15 years, but the law was passed just a few years ago. He'd just have to prove he had the fish from before the law was passed.

[silverweb]

2. What a racket!

"The koi were transported to the Little Shop of Pets in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which agreed to let Ly buy them back."

But, also from the article, "Maine outlawed the importation and possession of koi."

Hmmmmm.... interesting little conundrum there.

[ContraBass Black]

4. He must not have paid Protection.

The Man has to collect.

[Javaman]

12. Quite honestly, that's what this sounds like to me...

I don't know about you, but just about every real Asian restaurant I have ever eaten in, has them. They are for good luck.

Ignorance in this nation is at defcon 5 and rising.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Well, if you kill them, you no longer posess them.

So there's a nice, safe way out.

Too bad it does nothing to protect the fish.

[rodeodance]

3. I wonder if someone had first talked to him --before this abrupt visit.

[silverweb]

5. Should have sent a letter.

Official notice in writing, by certified or registered mail, detailing his options.

His ownership of the fish should certainly have been covered by some sort of "grandfather clause" in the new law... and apparently are, if he's going to be allowed to "buy them back" from the pet store they were taken to. I hope he sues the state and wins to recover the cost.

[Historic NY]

6. If released into the wild they would be a problem....

but then again their bright colors would sound dinner bells for fish eating wildlife. They are carp and they can in large quanties make a mess out of small stream or waterways. I can't see it as a major problem in Maine. Apparently the state is also not aware that Koi are now breed here in the US.

[silverweb]

13. Yes...

But this man had had them for 15 years with no intention of releasing them into the wild. Some provision should have been made for cases like his.

Seizing them and then reselling them back to him through a pet store is NOT a just solution!

[OneBlueSky]

7. um .. . aren't koi . . . like . . . carp? . . . n/t

.

[peacefreak]

8. Cuong Ly & his family

have 2 resturants in the Midcoast area. They started with nothing & have run a good business for years. They are honest, hard working & supportive of our community. They deserve better than this. And by the way, the fish are beautiful & well taken care of.

[sakabatou]

9. For a moment there

I though the koi had seizures...

[JNelson6563]

11. I thought it was a type of seizure

that maybe I'd never heard of. Maybe one that turned people into carp? :shrug: ;-)

Julie

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. I would just like to say that...

That is a fucking stupid law. Koi could survive in pretty much all of the U.S. and I've never heard of any state banning them until now. I've also never heard of major issues caused by wild koi.