Abilene restaurant begs public to stop feeding koi fish, threatens criminal charges

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – An Abilene restaurant is begging the public to stop feeding their koi fish and is threatening to press criminal charges if the activity continues.

Szechuan Chinese Restaurant on the 3400 block of S 1st Street has made several social media posts over the past week asking people to stop feeding their fish, saying that they’ve found bread in the enclosure and that their fish cannot handle the extra feeding.

“We have had our precious koi fish for almost 2 decades and they have survived through extreme heat/freezing temperatures, a crane that tries to dine on them every spring, but they are NOT equipped to survive these irregular feeding patterns as well as this much stress,” the latest post explains.

Restaurant owners say they have been taking proper care of the fish and feeding them regularly, despite what concerned community members are saying.

They did confirm their pond has a leak, but they are keeping the water at a safe level and making sure it remains a good quality, which is harder to do when the public keeps feeding them without permission.

“Over feeding of the kois can lead to serious health problems such as low water quality, contaminating the water with harmful nitrates, over grow of algae, disease, and even death,” Szechuan owners explain.

The property is under video surveillance, and owners say anyone caught feeding the fish or trying to remove them in the future will face criminal charges. Multiple fish have already been stolen.

Szechuan Chinese Restaurant has been closed since it was destroyed by a fire in January. It’s unknown when they plan to reopen.