FREEPORT, Maine -- Armed game wardens seized 10 exotic fish from the tank of a Chinese restaurant last week, 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 that his pet koi were like family members, and that their confiscation, in what he described as a heavy-handed raid, had made him ``want to explode."
After obtaining a search warrant, two uniformed wardens and a biologist, accompanied by Freeport police, visited the China Rose on Wednesday, taking away 10 fish that ranged from 12 to 14 inches.
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.
A few years ago, however, Maine outlawed the importation and possession of koi, and Ly was charged with importing freshwater fish without a permit.
``These fish can grow to be very large," said Sergeant Tim Spahr of the Maine Warden Service. ``And when they grow out of their indoor habitat, they may be taken to a lake or a river or stream, and what you have is an invasive species that can compete with the native fisheries."
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