Catching and sending fish home from Hawaii?

[Western_reefer]

Hey guys, I have a question, I'm in Hawaii right now and was wondering if its possible to catch a few reef fish and send them home? If you can, how do yoi go about doing that?

 

[foundnemo11]

I'm sure you can, look up local laws. I would probably be careful since taking them out of their natural habitat putting them in a bag and mailing them to put in a tiny glass cage would probably stress the fish out a lot, not to mention all the parasites and what not you could bring with you. Me personally would leave the fish and maybe grab some cool corals to bring home.

 

[foundnemo11]

Still could find parasites and other bad things in coral also

 

[gone fishin]

I would be careful of taking anything. You may find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

 

[ace_92101]

I know taking corals in Hawaii, like most places, is illegal.

http://www.huntnfishregs.com/hawaii/HawaiiFishingRegulations.aspx

When I was last there I visited Coral Fish Hawaii. Great selection and great prices.

 

[trae]

Yeh, all of the above aint gonna happen, unless you plan on staying in Hawaii in custody for destroying an already fragile reef.

 

[Coddigtion]

IIRC you have to have a special license to do it, but that has been years ago.

 

[trae]

http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/licenses_permits.html section 9

It's kind of a touchy area for locals because there is an activist named Snorkel Bob that is trying to ban the aquarium trade in Hawaii first, and the world period without supporting facts. Many of the local aquarist have been fighting this off for three years or more with petitions. If you take 1/4 of LPS or SPS off of that reef, and it is reported by license plate, you are going to regret it. They use things like this to add fuel to the fire. If you go by the DNR you can't go wrong, Mahalo!

 

[ace_92101]

http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/licenses_permits.html section 9

It's kind of a touchy area for locals because there is an activist named Snorkel Bob that is trying to ban the aquarium trade in Hawaii first, and the world period without supporting facts. Many of the local aquarist have been fighting this off for three years or more with petitions. If you take 1/4 of LPS or SPS off of that reef, and it is reported by license plate, you are going to regret it. They use things like this to add fuel to the fire. If you go by the DNR you can't go wrong, Mahalo!

Is that the same Snorkel Bob who wrote the snorkel/dive guide to the Big Island?

 

[dsiu25]

Is that the same Snorkel Bob who wrote the snorkel/dive guide to the Big Island?

Yeah, he has a shop here on oahu.

As for the fish collection, you can get a free permit from the dnlr if you're a resident. But it's honestly difficult to catch fish during the day, and nothing too interesting, unless you're diving deep.

If you're deadset on bringing fish home with you, check out Coral Fish Hawaii in Aiea. Kevin from Pacific Island Aquatics is here too, and just have them ship it for you. Besides that, just try try reef walk/ torching at night, you can easily find lots of juvenile butterflies and other critters. There is also a couple good minus tides around 10AM on the 25th or so.

Oh yea, definitely forget about all LPS & SPS coral too... Only zoas and palys and other "nonreefbuilding" corals are "legal" here, but even that is ambiguous..

Enjoy your stay here!

 

[ace_92101]

Agreed on Coral Fish Hawaii. It was impressive.

 

[foundnemo11]

I had a feeling after posting I was probably wrong. Thinking if you took a little piece of coral wouldn't hurt much, but if you are doing it and everyone else is it would do a lot of damage.

 

[sail33]

laws regarding collection
http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/coral_liverock.html

Penalties
First violations are subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or thirty days in jail, plus up to $1,000 per specimen taken illegally. Penalties increase for subsequent violations.

 

[foundnemo11]

Good to know. A weeks vacation could turn into a month long stay in the slammer