Complicated legal situation Why koi washed away during the flood have to stay in the Swist river

Swisttal-Heimerzheim · The flood has washed Japanese carp from garden ponds into the Swist. Thus the great freedom beckons to the ownerless fish. To catch them again is prohibited.

 The koi that were washed away into the Swist River will become a legal case after the flood.

The koi that were washed away into the Swist River will become a legal case after the flood.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

The water masses of the Swist stopped at nothing during the flood. They flooded streets, houses, gardens - and many a garden pond. For the fish living in the ponds, this meant that their habitat was temporarily much larger than before. However, when the river shrank back to its normal size, it took the fish with it.

 Now some koi carp from private ponds live in the Swist. And will stay there for the time being. Even if it sounds simple, you are not allowed to simply fish them out.

Kolja Kreder, lawyer and angler from Heimerzheim, has described the legal situation in a local forum. Originally he had offered to fish out the koi. He had the necessary license. However that would be allowed only if the owner of the fishing rights permits that.

In the Swist fish are masterless

Because now, where the Kois swim in the Swist, they are masterless, explain Kreder to the GA. In a closed garden pond, the owner could theoretically catch them at any time. In a large body of water or a flowing stream, no. Where the fish can swim away or it's uncertain which specific fish will be caught, there are no owners left. 

And no matter what pond the koi came from, Kreder says they are now subject only to normal fishing laws. Anyone who wants to catch them with a net or rod first needs a fishing license. And the consent of the rights holder. 

In the case of the Swist in Heimerzheim, this is the Angling Club Vorgebirge 1973, but the club has not granted this permission. With good reason, as its president Hans Kemp explained: "You can't guarantee that only koi carp will bite." Other, accidentally caught fish would then have to be put back into the stream. 

The angling club Vorgebirge spares the fish after the high water

That means stress and injuries that are not desired after the flood, he said. "We are currently sparing the fish," says Kemp. Therefore, there is currently no fishing at all in the Swist. Not even the koi, which are missing. 

By the way, the situation is not comparable with other pets. If a cat falls into the stream, it is not subject to fishing rights, because it is neither masterless nor a fish. 

On Facebook, where Kreder shared this decision, there was little understanding of the legal situation - or the need to obtain permits in the first place.

Facebook users worry about the koi

The plan to catch the koi with a fishing rod alone upset some users. Yet that's not a problem for the animals, Kreder explained. Carp have strong jaws with which they normally crack mussels in the Rhine. A fine hook, carefully removed, is no worse than a vaccination for a human, he said. 

"The carp in itself is one of the most robust fish." A trout suffers significantly more, because with it the mucus layer would be injured by touching. 

Danger threatens from cormorants and herons

However, it is not harmful for koi to swim in the Swist. The only risk for the fish is that the often yellow or orange-colored animals are easier prey for herons and cormorants than camouflaged species. Whereby Kreder stated that a large Koi is of no great interest to a heron. 

The lawyer sees the plans of some discussion participants to collect the koi with a net despite everything as more problematic. That is then fish poaching - and a criminal offense that can be punished with up to two years in prison.  

Original text: Juliane Hornstein

Translation: Mareike Graepel

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