Yum Yum fined for violations
CALEXICO — Yum Yum Chinese Food restaurant’s owner Louie Wong was recently fined and pleaded no contest to a conditional plea to unlawful possession of wildlife here.
The plea between Wong and the county District Attorney’s Office came
after Wong’s restaurant was found to have fish and wildlife stored in the freezers of his restaurant that Wong claims were given to him by friends.
In an article published by Adelante Valle, Wong told the publication that he stored a product that one of his friends caught in the freezer of his restaurant and did not have the proper documentation to do so.
He told Adelante Valle he did not know he required the proper permit to store those catches, since for nearly 20 years, both consumers and friends have brought him catches to prepare for them.
While that is legal, it is illegal to store fish or wildlife for a customer and all products need proper documentation detailing where it came from.
In documents obtained from the DA’s office, what was found in his freezers was more than just a few fish. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife lead the inspection of his restaurant and found several fish and wildlife which were violations:
Three whole blue fin tuna-given to him by a friend
Ten ducks shot by a shotgun, no feathers
A 24 inch shark
Two pheasants, unfeathered, species could not be determined
One yellow tail fillet
One Sierra
One white sea bass carcass, frozen to a yellow tail head
Four trout fish in a brown plastic bag
One whole white sea bass
One whole yellowtail (tuna) with a paper stapled to its gill from a charter boat
One dove breast
One whole grouper
Two whole channel catfish
Three corbina
Three whole common carp
Yellowtail pieces
Six large fillets of yellowtail, vacuumed packed
One undersize black bass
Three packages of channel catfish chunks
One package of flathead catfish parts
One large white seabass fillet in a vacuum packed bag
Yellowtail (tuna) belly in a plastic bag
35 whole pompano
In the documents obtained by the IV Press, it stated Wong told Fish and Wildlife all the items were given to him from friends. In the same document, it stated restaurants cannot house fish and wildlife that was caught from the wild and restaurants must keep proper documentation as to how the product was obtained — Wong didn’t have any documents for the above-mentioned wildlife. Wong also told Adelante Valle a citizen tipped off law enforcement regarding the items he was storing.
Fish and Wildlife Warden Rodney Nemlowill said it is legal for a customer to bring a fish or hunt to a restaurant to prepare for them the same day, but not leave in storage for an extended amount of time or to give to a restaurant for preparation for other customers.
“Let’s say you go out fishing and you catch a fish and you go to Yum Yum or wherever, and you’re like ‘here’s a fish, can you cook it for me?’ they can do that,” Nemlowill said. “What they cannot do is if you go fishing, catch some fish, say ‘hey you want some fish for your restaurant … here you go, here’s some fish.”
Wong received a $220 fine and a conditional plea for one year. During that time, he, his restaurant and his employees shall not possess, maintain on its premises any wildlife, game and fish, mammals, amphibians and birds which were not legally obtained as provided by the Fish and Game statute.
He is also to make a $500 donation to Humane Society of Imperial County.
If at the end of his one year conditional plea and if he complies with all conditions, the case will be dismissed.
Adelante Valle Writer Nassieli Pizano contributed to this article.