removing live sand from Hawaii

[Tim Baeten]

Greetings all,

I am lucky enough to be vacationing in Hawaii. It occurred to me that I could bring back some live sand, maybe a pound or so. My questions are, does anyone know if this allowed? Has anyone done it recently? The TSA shouldn't care since it'll be checked, however I know Hawaii has some pretty tight restrictions.

Thanks. Tim

 

[greenbean36191]

If you have an aquarium permit you can legally collect small amount of LS each day. However, I suspect the USDA would consider it soil, so probably won't allow it to be taken out of the state. Technically since it's not terrestrial it shouldn't be considered soil, but I doubt the inspectors at the airport are going to make the distinction and it's probably not worth the effort to argue with them about it.

 

[buck50bmg]

Not a chance!

For one at the airport when you leave they do a check just for that sort of thing(USDA). They inspect for animals and plants that you are removing.

Second, its really bad luck....

Now if you go to say Coral Fish Hawaii on Oahu and you send a fish back to yourself and some sand makes it in there.......well.............
Hawaii is very unique and there are steps to keep it that way.

 

[greenbean36191]

The USDA inspectors are looking for terrestrial organisms and soil, not marine stuff. Most of the time you can tell them "it's not soil, it's marine sediment" and get it through with just a little bit of talking. I've done it a few times pre- 9/11. Now with all the additional regulations and security IMO it's not worth the hassle or holding up the line and making everyone else mad.

 

[Tim Baeten]

Thanks for the responses; I'll just not bother.

 

[t0mmy108]

Last time i was in Hawaii, I brought back a gallon jug of sand. This was before the airlines stopped allowing us to bring liquids aboard the planes as carry ons. I also checked in another gallon in luggage. It had some snails mixed in it. The only people that said anything were the locals who worked at the airport. They said it was very bad luck to steal their sand. I tipped him five dollars and told him i don't believe in luck. Two years later, I had a tank crash. I left my RODI on.

 

[nakadoc]

Dont know about taking marine sediment out of state but you are allowed to take 1 5gal. bucket per day.

They were just messing with you. Now if you take a piece of lava rock from a Heau thats when crazy stuff starts happening to you.

 

[Malifluous]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12320009#post12320009 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nakadoc
Dont know about taking marine sediment out of state but you are allowed to take 1 5gal. bucket per day.

They were just messing with you. Now if you take a piece of lava rock from a Heau thats when crazy stuff starts happening to you.

This is incorrect. Only residents of Hawaii are allowed to take ONE gallon/ person/ day.

 

[greenbean36191]

Do you have a link to the most recent regulation? When I collected, the 1gal/day/person rule was in effect but there was no stipulation that you had to be a resident. I can't find the rule on the DAR website anymore, but the old versions of the reg I'm finding don't mention anything about being a resident. Has it changed?

 

[jim63dt]

Isnt there a superstition to take anything from hawaii that it will give you bad luck??

 

[RGBMatt]

Here you go:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0171/HRS_0171-0058_0005.htm

To sum it up, you're allowed to take one gallon per day for personal use only. There's nothing about whether you have to be a resident or not. You also don't need an aquarium permit - that's for "aquatic life" only.

The reason why this law exists is that in the past, large quantities of sand were removed from beaches for use in construction projects (concrete, landfill, etc). The state isn't particularly concerned about people taking small amounts for aquariums, craft projects, etc.

Bad luck or not, I don't think it's worth the trouble. Just borrow sand from somebody you know with an established tank.

 

[tankjunky]

When i went to Hawaii i took home i big dead coral that landed on my foot when i was standing on the beach. Nobody said anything. You can even take the sand home in your shoes, like i did without knowing it : )

 

[marmaladecat]

Yeah, I have heard about the "curse" thing with Hawai'i. Take the wrong rock or tiki idol and the bad juju kicks in.

Hey, it almost got Greg Brady....

Personally if the people who live there aren't keen on the idea, I'd pass. It is their backyard.

 

[fivesmallworlds]

I got stopped by TSA carrying on a box of dead coral/rocks that I gathered while snorkling in Florida. It was a good sized box, just barely small enough to fit in a bag to be considered a carryon. They opened the box and took a look and sent me on my way with my box of rocks. They didn't really care. I don't know if it is all that different from what you could expect to have happen in Hawii.

 

[burton117]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12499033#post12499033 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fivesmallworlds
I got stopped by TSA carrying on a box of dead coral/rocks that I gathered while snorkling in Florida. It was a good sized box, just barely small enough to fit in a bag to be considered a carryon. They opened the box and took a look and sent me on my way with my box of rocks. They didn't really care. I don't know if it is all that different from what you could expect to have happen in Hawaii.

Very interesting...

So does anybody know if locals in Hawaii have a similar quota for "live rock"? I remember reading somewhere that they are only allowed to collect dead rock/coral for their home reef tanks.

 

[HarleyDude]

I was just in Maui and not sure if this is true, but was told that the Agricultural inspection would not allow anything like this through - sand, coral, fish, anything that was part of Hawaii. However, I had quite a bit of sand on my flip flops :eek2:

 

[nakadoc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12323885#post12323885 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Malifluous
This is incorrect. Only residents of Hawaii are allowed to take ONE gallon/ person/ day.

I guess being born and raised there my whole life I did not learn anything, WTFE. We always utilized the free sources as much as possible growing up and having 5 police officers in the family I am sure we never took anything in excessive amounts.

 

[DrBegalke]

Apparently seashells is ok, soil is not. Sand isn't mentioned.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/notice_hawaii.html

 

[klavestat]

Regardless of whether it's legal or not, my opinion is we shouldn't be exporting ANYTHING live from Hawaii. It's one thing for kamaaina to make sustainable use of their resources but these are isolated island ecosystems - and they're being heavily impacted by people taking "a little here, a little there". Still haven't really gotten control on the aquarium market extracting reef fish there. Anyway, live sand in hawaii should have the same basic properties as live sand anywhere. If you must obtain "natural sand" I'd try to do it someplace closer to home or order it from an aquaculture supply outfit.

 

[ReefNOut]

Yeah dont take it from hawaii, that is bad luck. Buy it from somewhere you dont know where it came from, now the bad luck is on the people that sold it to you.