Fish to feed poor missing from group's hatcheries

Someone may have enjoyed a huge fish dinner Saturday night, with fish enough to invite the entire neighborhood.

Or perhaps the 50 to 80 live fish discovered missing Saturday from the hatcheries of the Morningstar Ministries are now swimming in someone's backyard pond. Since he discovered the theft Saturday afternoon, Hans Geissler, a boat builder who founded Morningstar Ministries, can only speculate on the fate of the fish raised in a hatchery in a tiny lake behind Faith Community Church in Largo.

Someone may have enjoyed a huge fish dinner Saturday night, with fish enough to invite the entire neighborhood.

Or perhaps the 50 to 80 live fish discovered missing Saturday from the hatcheries of the Morningstar Ministries are now swimming in someone's backyard pond.

The most wasteful fate of all would be if the fish were left to die instead of being used as they were intended, as food for the poor.  Since he discovered the theft Saturday afternoon, Hans Geissler, a boat builder who founded Morningstar Ministries, can only speculate on the fate of the fish raised in a hatchery in a tiny lake behind Faith Community Church in Largo.

To make matters worse, someone returned Saturday evening, disconnected and turned over a floating dock and vandalized the hatcheries. "It is frustrating," Geissler said. He said he previously has approached older youths who sometimes swim in the lake. "Usually, I go back and tell them it's private property, but offer to teach them how to grow fish," he said.

The fish are tilapias, a hearty breed that will grow in open ponds, cages, aquariums or tanks.  Geissler said the fish that were taken ranged from 4 to 14 inches long. The larger ones were breeders.

They would have been taken in August to the Mayan Indian village of Senor, Mexico.  The Morningstar team, made up of children and adults, plans to build and stock a fish farm there. Organizers have been raising money for the project. They will take about 50 female and 10 male breeder fish, as well as about 3,000 "fry," or baby fish.  Geissler said some of the fish left at the hatchery  will be taken on the trip, and the rest will be bought from another breeder. "The important thing is to get the fish down there," he said. The team will set up hatcheries as the first step in developing a fish farm. As the fish grow and multiply, they will provide food and a source of income for the ministers and missionaries already working in Senor.

Geissler said his next goal is to raise money for a fence around the lake and hatchery - with an alarm system. Geissler can be reached at 536-4114 or 531-3891.