Restaurant owner shaken by armed wardens seizure of fish

:? But, the report I heard said he may keep them , but not display them in public :?:

Now wouldn't it be a little more likely that the where abouts of the KOI, would be easier to
keep track of if they were in the restaurant , not hidden away in a private home etc.?

Bruce, your common sense is showing again....

I guess our game wardens are worried that someone might drive up to the restaurant, leave the vehicle running (with a filled aquarium at the ready), dash into the restaurant, grab the koi out of their completely enclosed tank, make a break for the truck, and get away.

Yeah. That must be the reason they have to be hidden from public view.

They also have to have micro chips inserted in each one of them to track their location. Guess they are under house arrest. Who is going to monitor their whereabouts and at what costs?

This story gets more bizarre as the world turns.

:shock: Due to budget constraints Inland Fisheries and Wild Wardens cannot monitor,
KOI, they will be housed in state of Maine provided recreational vehicle parked at Blaine House! :)

Owner of koi will plead guilty to misdemeanor

By TESS NACELEWICZ, Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Maine bans koi because they could devastate populations of native freshwater fish if released in the wild. The owner of a restaurant in Freeport says he will stop fighting a charge of illegally importing koi so he can concentrate on getting his 10 beloved fish from a pet shop in New Hampshire where they are being held as evidence.

Cuong Ly, owner of the China Rose Restaurant, said on Tuesday that he will plead guilty to the misdemeanor offense in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland on Thursday. Ly said he can't afford the expense of a trial.

source

This is a very sad outcome for a hardworking, taxpaying, productive resident of Maine. This state is nutz, plain and simple.

I see a meal of slimy hagfish with a side dish of smoked koi on the menu this week...

Delivered to the Governor's offices just in time for Christmas.

Don't forget the Kimchee.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

So let's get this straight:
A South Portland attorney parading in front of rush-hour traffic dressed as an armed terrorist has his charges dropped so long as he apologizes, does community service and makes a $500 charitable donation.

Meanwhile, a Freeport restaurateur whose crime is owning 10 banned carp that his culture considers good luch charms is today being forced to plead guilty and pay a $1,000 fine?

SOURCE

(cue music: Satchmo Armstrong, "It's A Wonderful World!")

Anyone have a listen to Osama Bin Connelly's "non-apology-apology"? Not that I expected him to be so, but he wasn't exactly contrite. He obviously swallowed his vitriol (recall his statements to the media on the day of the event???? that's what he really thinks!), took the deal to avoid a conviction and jail. Guess with a kid he didn't want to face the reality of daddy being in pokey for Christmas. The prosecutors should have demanded more....they wimped out probably figuring the lawyer would give them a big fight. He deserved what he got and more.

The restauranteur with the fishy problem also took the plea to avoid something worse. Today's PPH op ed go it just about right. "State's interest has run amok in koi case." Chong Ly didn't deserve any of this.

State drops its demand for microchips in koi fish

By TESS NACELEWICZ, Staff report Portland Press Herald Saturday, December 30, 2006

State wildlife officials have dropped a requirement that a Freeport restaurant owner implant identifying microchips in his 10 pet fish before he can get them back from a New Hampshire pet shop, but the concession does not go far enough for Cuong Ly.

Ly, owner of the China Rose Restaurant, filed an appeal Friday challenging other restrictions in the permit the state granted him this fall for keeping the koi.

Finally, Some Common Sense?

Yes, I can see that if these fish were in a bullet proof glass enclosure it would be a great threat to the State's interest for the general public to see a fish swim in a tank.
What we really need is to have our own government "under glass".................so ALL can see.

D

Koi fish are invasive, and a threat, biologists insist

By DEIRDRE FLEMING, Staff Writer

Monday, January 15, 2007

The state's seizure of pet koi from a Freeport restaurant owner has been widely ridiculed by the public as an example of heavy-handed bureaucracy.
But the issue is much broader than one man's fish tank.

For biologists, the seizure was a necessary, if unpopular, step to protect Maine's native fisheries from being taken over by invasive species. They have been fighting to keep non-native fish out of wild trout and salmon waters for 30 years.

SOURCE

Yet, there is no effort to eradicate small/largemouth bass from most of Maine's waters where they've been established. There is an exception or two, but that doesn't constitute a statewide effort.

Meanwhile, a Freeport restaurateur whose crime is owning 10 banned carp that his culture considers good luch charms is today being forced to plead guilty and pay a $1,000 fine?

SOURCE

I think he needs to trade these fish in because as a good luck charm, I think they are defective. Not much Good Luck here.

Restaurant owner gets OK to display ornamental fish
By Clarke Canfield, February 16, 2007

PORTLAND, Maine --State officials have agreed to let the owner of a Freeport restaurant publicly display his ornamental fish that were seized last summer by state fisheries agents.

Cuong Ly, owner of the China Rose restaurant, said he plans to put the koi back in his 150-gallon aquarium for customers to see next week after the agreement is finalized.

AND HOW MUCH DID THIS COST EVERYONE INVOLVED?

No kidding, Paul.

STATE LUNACY DELUXE.

End result - fish are right back where they were on day one.

Exactly who benefitted from this entire, ridiculous ordeal, besides attorneys?

Koi case an example of how good laws go bad

By Theo Stein

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

According to the Chinese calender, this is the week that the Year of the Pig gives way the Year of the Dog.

For officials over at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, they're just happy it won't be the Year of the Koi.

The 12-year Chinese astrological calendar, which embodies a cyclical concept of time, doesn't have a slot for fish.

source

From the editorial:

AND HOW.

Naran:

I disagree. We hunters have benefitted hugely from the prosecutions of those who shoot people in the woods, even though they are usually unsuccessful. The prosecution is a deterrent.

If we weren't battling bass, pike, milfoil and a host of other species, I might feel differently. One cannot deny the existence of a problem. It is also difficult to argue "no violation".

I believe the net result is appropriate. Everybody in Maine now knows, if you mess with non-native species in violation of the rules, you could have a rough time of it.

This is only slightly off topic. I was listening to a gardening expert who hosts a weekend radio show when a woman called in to discuss some problem with her koi. The host (whose name is, I believe, Snodsmith) then talked at length about how he maintained his koi.

The show originates in NYC and the caller was in New Jersey. Apparently lots of people down that way keep koi and let them loose to help decorate garden ponds during the summer. I heard no mention of any laws restricting them.

The affection these folks expressed for their koi almost matched that of the Freeport restaurateur. Let's hope they don't bring their carp with them when they come to Maine on vacation.

TJC - I'm not arguing that the restaurant owner was in violation of the present law. However, the manner in which the situation was handled was ludicrous at best, and horrendous at worst. Since the fish had been in the location for 15 years, which some say pre-dates any legislation outlawing them, I somehow think it could have been handled without confiscation, and legal battles. If this were a longtime, non-conforming use of a building, for instance, it would have been grandfathered, with no penalties under the present law.

If the DMR had said, "here's your choice - you either pay for this license, post this sign, and comply with these rules, or we confiscate the fish," that would have been one thing.

I really wonder whether the eventual outcome couldn't have been achieved with less strenuous, public, and costly battles for all involved. The state legal bill for this year-long folly is no doubt larger than any amount of money the koi owner paid in the end.

Chop 'em up and cook 'em already. Hasn't this guy had enough time in the spotlight?

KOI CONTROVERSY
Maine restaurant owner Cuong Ly says it's a great way to bring in the Chinese New Year.
Ly will be traveling to a Portsmouth, New Hampshire, pet store tomorrow to retrieve his prized koi fish, which were seized by Maine fish and game officials last summer.

They were removed from a display in Ly's China Rose Restaurant in Freeport. State officials said the display violated a state law prohibiting the importation and possession of koi.

SOURCE

They're home once again.

By Jerry Harkavy, Associated Press Writer | February 28, 2007

FREEPORT, Maine --Ornamental fish seized last summer from a popular Chinese restaurant were put back on display Wednesday, ending a legal battle that pitted the state's concern for native game fish against an immigrant businessman's devotion to pet fish he credits for his success.

..snip
"I'm sure they're happy to be back," Ly said as he used a net to scoop the koi from three styrofoam containers and place them in their old home.

He credits public support with getting him through the 7-month ordeal

Over several years, up until the fish episode, I had eaten at the China Rose often. I thought it was one of the better Chinese restaurants. However, I visited the restaurant twice just after the koi were seized and found both the food and service disappointing. I haven't been back since.

Coincidental? I don't know. But perhaps now Mr. Ly can get his mind off his fish and back to running a quality restaurant again.

It's too bad that he had to spend $20K on this whole ordeal, as well.

Harpswell woman asking court to legalize exotic fish species in Maine
Return of the "Killer Koi" Issues in Maine

This lady, like the Freeport China Rose owner, keeps her fish as pets, and they are treasured, and carefully housed, with no chance of getting loose in Maine's open waters. Now she faces a Superior Court battle, sans attorney, to keep them.

It seems to me that instead of banning the fish entirely, the state could implement a permitting process, like the ones employed in keeping wild animals in Maine. Have the prospective koi owners file an application with the state, to become licensed owners; and implement a set of rules that must be followed for keeping the fish.