This sounds really strange to me – The owner of the China Rose restaurant in Freeport, Maine, will be reunited with the ten fish seized from his aquarium last summer, if he meets requirements including having microchips inserted into them, for tracking purposes. I’ve never heard of a fish having a microchip installed. Is that even possible?

A three-member panel voted unanimously to issue a permit to allow Cuong Ly to keep his koi.

The panel members were from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Ly regards the koi as part of his family, as well as a source of good luck for his business.

Maine wildlife officials have said that the koi could be a threat to native species if they were somehow released into the wild. Ly’s happy to get his fish back, but he’s unhappy with the restrictions that prevent them from being displayed at his restaurant. The fish have been displayed in the restaurant’s lobby for 15 years. the board set other conditions as well – the koi cannot be sold, traded or given away; they cannot be bred; and the department must be notified within 24 hours if one of the fish dies.

I never knew there were such restrictions for keeping Koi. People all over North America keep Koi in their ponds. Are we going to see more restrictions throughout N.A. regarding this member of the Carp family?