Charges likely after koi carp crackdown

By ANNE BESTON environment reporter

A crackdown on the illegal trade in "pest fish" will almost certainly mean prosecutions after documents and fish were seized yesterday.

About a dozen koi carp, sometimes known as the "rats of the river" because they degrade waterways and are difficult to kill, were confiscated in the joint operation involving Department of Conservation, Ministry of Fisheries and police staff.

"Operation pest fish" leader and DoC officer Peter Younger said computers and documents were also seized in the raid of five pet shops and one commercial fishing business.

"We were basically looking for sale and purchase documentation, and we believe we've got a significant amount," Mr Younger said.

"We'll now go through that and look at laying charges under the Biosecurity Act."

The fish can live for up to two hours out of water and were "phenomenally difficult" to kill, he said.

They stir up the bottom of waterways and ponds, degrading the natural habitat to such an extent native fish could not survive.

The market for eating and ornamental koi carp was predominantly Asian, he said.

Unusually-coloured fish could fetch between $5000 and $10,000.

The fish were introduced into New Zealand in the 1960s as ornamental fish but escaped into the wild and are now established in Auckland and the Waikato.

They are an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act, and although it is not illegal to catch them, it is illegal to possess, transport or sell live fish.

DoC carried out a 10-month investigation before yesterday's swoop and would now look at clamping down on the illegal transporting of the fish by "course fishers", who use them for catch-and-release sport in freshwater lakes and ponds.