Shipping my reef from Hawaii question

[Chronicj7]

I've been living in Hawaii and have a small reef I'd like to bring to the mainland with me. None of the corals or fish have been collected from the ocean mind you. I spoke with FedEx and they said it shouldn't be an issue. Though, some of the whole sellers here said its difficult to get corals out of the state.

The FedEx rep told me its documented as "ornamental marine life" and wouldn't go through any tsa machines at the airport but I want to be 100% positive that I'm not doing anything illegal.

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[NanoJosh]

I wouldn't see it as illegal as long as ur not shipping the kind of macro that's illegal in Cali to Cali other than that it's animals that you aqua cultured it not from one country to another. But I may be wrong. Hopefully some one with an experience like this will chime in. Good luck with the move.


55 gal mixed reef 10 sps Dom.
10 gal soon to be anemone tank

Sent from some device using some app

 

[Chronicj7]

I guess my only concern is that tsa or agriculture is most likely not going to know the difference from what is locally cultured vs my aqua cultured corals.

 

[HumbleFish]

Me thinks Murphy's Law will kick in and you'll wish you had just started over at the new location.

 

[A_Z]

All corals commonly kept in aquariums are illegal to posses or import into Hawaii. (Unless your a research institution or public aquarium, in which case the permit is issued to the business not the person, and they state they are not to be kept as "pets")
The only corals you can keep are the locally found non reef building corals. Of which zoanthids are the only notable ones. (The others like Octocoral, Leather Coral and a Sea Fans are never traded).

Also what do you mean locally cultured vs aquacultured? That is the same, unless you meant locally collected.
If your current sig is correct and you currently posses SPS, I would recommend to immediately voluntarily surrender the organisms to the DOA or DAR. You don't want to face the possible fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

[Dierkes]

I'm from Hawaii. Went to nuuanu elementary, kawananakoa intermediate and Roosevelt high. Any coral is illegal in hawaii. A friends father got caught and he had to pay $200 in fines for each coral and 2 years in prison.

 

[NanoJosh]

So how do you guys have reef tanks


55 gal mixed reef 10 sps Dom.
10 gal soon to be anemone tank

Sent from some device using some app

 

[Adamw327]

Dont use fedex... use UPS if you can

 

[Rensmif]

I'm from Hawaii. Went to nuuanu elementary, kawananakoa intermediate and Roosevelt high. Any coral is illegal in hawaii. A friends father got caught and he had to pay $200 in fines for each coral and 2 years in prison.

Are you seriously saying saying that you have first hand knowledge of a man who served time in prison for a saltwater coral in a reef tank ?

I dont believe you! :uhoh3:

neither does this agency - http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/licenses_permits.html

I feel it is more helpful to say nothing rather than to give what appears to be completly false information. IMO

 

[kegogut]

Pwnt ^^

 

[HumbleFish]

Are you seriously saying saying that you have first hand knowledge of a man who served time in prison for a saltwater coral in a reef tank ?

I dont believe you! :uhoh3:

You would be amazed all the petty crimes people go to prison over in the "land of the free". Even Class A Misdemeanors carry a 1 yr max (per count) in most states. All it takes is having a crappy lawyer, and a DA willing to capitalize on that.

 

[Chronicj7]

Getting a bit off topic here. Sounds like a LFS on the mainland has a distributor who can get corals from here. I will try to contact them and fine out if I can go through them.

 

[NeilFox]

This thread blows my mind! What is wrong with your government?

 

[kegogut]

You have to beware of certain things that become invasive in parts of the country. Not necessarily corals but marine fish for sure. Look at the Lionfish problem Hawaii is having,look at the python/Lizard problem florida is having. Here in the midwest the asian carp is a huge problem in the rivers.

People cant be allowed to bring anything they want where theres a chance the animal can get loose,breed and destroy the ecosystem of that region.

 

[NanoJosh]

+ 1 we have the same lionfish problem in Florida It shouldn't be a problem but not everybody practices responsible reefing. I may have missed it in the thread but what area of the mainland are you moving to


55 gal mixed reef 10 sps Dom.
10 gal soon to be anemone tank

Sent from some device using some app

 

[Michigan Mike]

So the moral of the story is you can't have much of a reef tank in Hawaii so you better learn to swim/snorkel/scuba dive.

I suggest -
Getting rid of your illegal coral (maybe all of it) before you (possibly) get in trouble & start over on the mainland where you can get much more coral for your new tank.

 

[GreshamH]

From stateside, you cannot ship any live aquatic animal without a permit. I cannot ship live rotifers or copepods into HI, and can only get non live phytoplankton in on special permit.

In HI you cannot keep any stony coral. There are a few endemic soft corals you can keep, some inverts and of course fish.

 

[GreshamH]

Stony coral
Unlawful to take, break or damage, with any implement, any stony coral from the waters of the State, including any reef or mushroom coral.
Unlawful to sell or offer for sale any stony coral.
HAR 13-95

http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/regulated_fish_mia.html

 

[Chronicj7]

My sig is for my main tank that I have on the mainland. It's in NM where I will be for a short while until I move again. I only have zoas in the tank now but I would like to bring them back with me if possible. FedEx nor UPS seem to have overnight shipping from here. My only option would be to pack them in my luggage.

 

[jmowbray]

Man I would be scared of TSA with them packed. They will scan in the back and pitch them if need be and you'll have no clue until you get off and get questioned. No way to explain yourself face to face until after the fact.