Transporting Coral Out of Country

[Dave71]

I will be taking a trip soon outside the USA.

If I happen to see a coral in one of the stores (not wild extracted by me), can I purchase the coral and bring it back to the USA from a legal standpoint?

I am talking about a personal purchase of one or two corals, not a mass purchase for re-sale etc.....

 

[pech29]

I would say it's a risky thing to do. A quick google search found this. Scroll down to the 'Wildlife' section. Hope it helps

 

[Dave71]

I would say it's a risky thing to do. A quick google search found this. Scroll down to the 'Wildlife' section. Hope it helps

Thanks it does.

 

[greenbean36191]

You would need a CITES permit to legally import hard corals into the US. It's not practical to get a permit for just a few corals for personal use.

 

[TheSurgeon]

So I hope Im not hijacking, but do these same rules apply if you fly from Hawaii to the continental us?

 

[pech29]

I would say no, because you're not leaving or entering the country or dealing with customs.

 

[GreshamH]

So I hope Im not hijacking, but do these same rules apply if you fly from Hawaii to the continental us?

All stony corals are illegal to collect or posses in HI so while not against CITES, it is against the law (both Federal and State IIRC)

 

[TheSurgeon]

All stony corals are illegal to collect or posses in HI so while not against CITES, it is against the law (both Federal and State IIRC)

Ok, I meant more from buying them, but if they are illegal to even have that pretty much solves that. So no one can reef at all in HI?

 

[KarlBob]

I suppose you could pseudo-reef in Hawaii:

1. Find an attractive stand of coral just off-shore of your house. If you don't live on the beach, get as close as you can.
2. Go diving with a hammer and a stick of epoxy. Transplant any nearby corals that you don't like to another stand. Snorkel around and bring frags of any cool corals you find back to "your" reef.
3. Go diving every couple of days with a packet of fish food, and you'll never lack for beautiful fishes. Once they learn where they're being fed, they tend to hang around. With enough ornamentals sticking close to your feeding zone, you might even attract some sharks to "your" reef.
4. Set up a wireless webcam in an airtight housing a few feet away, and have a dedicated monitor in your living room showing the live feed 24/7. You might need a wireless router at the end of a looong cord to pick up the signal, though.

No need for a skimmer, flow that can't be matched in a glass box, free lighting, cool hitchhikers arriving all the time. What's not to like?

You'd probably get in trouble for damaging corals if you tried to do the aquascaping described above, but it's still a pleasant daydream.

 

[flyyyguy]

I dont post "lol" very much....

but Karlbob........:lol:

could you imagine the reef you could build??

 

[KarlBob]

I dont post "lol" very much....

but Karlbob........:lol:

could you imagine the reef you could build??

In a similar vein, I don't say "epic" very often, but that reef...
would be EPIC!

 

[returnofsid]

Ok, I meant more from buying them, but if they are illegal to even have that pretty much solves that. So no one can reef at all in HI?

Correct, no hobbyist in Hawaii can have a stony coral reef tank....legally. It is also illegal to import any corals into Hawaii.

 

[GreshamH]

I suppose you could pseudo-reef in Hawaii:

1. Find an attractive stand of coral just off-shore of your house. If you don't live on the beach, get as close as you can.
2. Go diving with a hammer and a stick of epoxy. Transplant any nearby corals that you don't like to another stand. Snorkel around and bring frags of any cool corals you find back to "your" reef.
3. Go diving every couple of days with a packet of fish food, and you'll never lack for beautiful fishes. Once they learn where they're being fed, they tend to hang around. With enough ornamentals sticking close to your feeding zone, you might even attract some sharks to "your" reef.
4. Set up a wireless webcam in an airtight housing a few feet away, and have a dedicated monitor in your living room showing the live feed 24/7. You might need a wireless router at the end of a looong cord to pick up the signal, though.

No need for a skimmer, flow that can't be matched in a glass box, free lighting, cool hitchhikers arriving all the time. What's not to like?

You'd probably get in trouble for damaging corals if you tried to do the aquascaping described above, but it's still a pleasant daydream.

You can get in trouble for simply molesting the corals

 

[KarlBob]

You can get in trouble for simply molesting the corals

True. The law is not very accomodating when you're thinking about ripping out chunks of "the wrong coral" from your outdoor reef.

With enough money I think you could still focus a camera on a particular section of reef and watch it from your living room, but you wouldn't be able to aquascape. Hmmm... No stocking, no aquascaping, no frags, but you'd still see gorgeous fish and corals. Not so great from a hobbiest's/tinkerer's point of view, but almost ideal from the casual aquarist's point of view.

Waitaminute. Not just one, but four cameras, spaced in a square and all focused on the center. Four flat screen TVs positioned like the walls of an aquarium, each displaying the view from one of the cameras. A thick black "tank rim" to hide the fact that the corners don't work like a real tank. Ta da, full-walkaround fake reef tank!

 

[GreshamH]

If some one has the money for the cams, I know the place to put them in HI

I think the 4 screen would be the best :lol:

 

[taklein65]

If you get a kit put together count me in.:crazy1:

 

[KarlBob]

I just noticed the phrase "stony corals" in the discussion of Hawaii. Does that mean it would be legal to have a reef tank in Hawaii with octocorals, corallimorphs, gorgonians, zoanthids, palythoas, etc., as long as you had no LPS and no SPS? That wouldn't be so bad.

 

[GreshamH]

No inverts are allowed to be imported. You can collect local soft corals (not many) and zoanthids. Not sure on gorgonians. Only endemic stuff for obvious reasons.

 

[KarlBob]

I guess it's just a trade-off: easier access to outdoor reefs than most other states comes with less opportunity to grow your own indoor reef.