Are Koi a serious threat to Maine’s native fish?

Koi_feeding,_National_ArboretumMaine currently forbids the possession of Koi fish, and Koi lovers arrived at the legislature today to argue that Koi should be allowed here, without a permit.

Allowing anyone in Maine to own Koi would “create jobs and revenue for Maine,” Phil Roy of Waterville testified at the hearing on LD 833, which would repeal the law forbidding possession of Koi in Maine.

Roy said that Koi, “will not threaten our local fisheries,” but he didn’t help his case much by comparing them to Goldfish, which he said, “are also on the aquarium list and have been sold in Maine for 50 years with no measurable impact on our local fishery.” DIF&W has had lots of problems with Goldfish released illegally in local ponds. When they find them, they take action to kill them, usually by draining the pond.

Half a dozen people stepped up to the microphone to express their support for the bill. Marsha Henderson of Hermon quoted David Jones, Executive Director of the Professional Pond Companies Association as saying, “In this day and age, if state bureaucrats restrict the trade of a universally available animal, such as the domestic Koi, due to a perceived threat to the ecosystem rather than a real one, they are only stifling economic development and pretending to have a sound basis for doing so.”

Georgette Curran of Harpswell, who acknowledged that her Koi, possessed illegally, were seized and killed by DIF&W, claimed that “Maine is one of the least hospitable environments for Koi of all the 50 states.”

Maine Audubon opposed the bill. Jenn Gray, Audubon’s lobbyist, reported that Koi, “Originally from Asia… have been accidentally introduced into native waters on all continents except Antarctica. Once introduced into suitable habitat, they are invasive species, reproducing at rapid rates, eating native plants, growing rapidly and to large sizes, outcompeting native fish and reducing biodiversity.

“Maine is home to some of the best native brook trout and salmon habitat in the northeast,” said Gray. “Keeping Koi out of the state is the best way to keep them out of our waters. Though well-meaning pet owners are not to blame, all too often a few negligent pet owners, dumping unwanted fish into a local pond or stream, can create massive destruction to native wildlife.”

Gray related, “A recent example in Colorado Lake, near Boulder, illustrates how just a handful of Koi dumped in the lake a few years ago, presumably by a pet owners, now number more than 3,000, outcompeting native fish and destroying habitat. Wildlife officials are spending thousands of dollars to remove the fish, with no assurance their efforts will be successful.”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMike Brown, DIF&W’s Fisheries Division Director, offered exceptional and strong testimony against the bill. “Maine’s action plan for managing and controlling invasive aquatic species, “lists a number of invasive freshwater fish that should not be allowed to enter the state and which should be eradicated if they are found in Maine,” said Brown. “These species include Koi, rudd, round goby, Eurasian ruffe, gizzard shad and others. These fish have been identified as posting the most significant risk based on their impacts should they become established in the wild.”

Brown noted that the Maine Superior Court supported the denial of a permit for Koi in 2013. He also said, “Last Monday, DIF&W rotenoted a pond in Wells to kill Koi there, and reported it was a time-consuming and costly endeavor. It took 3 DIF&W employees, with help from Wells officials, 12 hours to get this job done. Brown emphasized that Koi and Goldfish are able to live outside in Maine, and told the committee of other Koi problems in other ponds.

In 2012 DIF&W approached other states for guidance on Koi, said Brown, and every state told us that if we don’t already have Koi in Maine, we should not do so. If they could go back and forbid Koi in their states, all said they would do that. Seems like good advice, to me.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.