Koch v. Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Close, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Ohio Court of Claims dismissing a complaint for malicious prosecution following a trial on the merits.

Plaintiff-appellant, Dean Koch, is a commercial fisherman holding a seining permit for Lake Erie. Seining is a commercial fishing operation during which a large net is laid into a lake, then pulled into shore with the fish trapped inside. As the net is pulled, the fish are condensed into a small area and the “fishing” or “sorting” process begins. Because the seining net indiscriminately takes all fish as may be within its confines, there…