Visiting Hawaii - want to catch own fish?

[alany611]

Hi all,

I had a large 300 gallon aquarium in my house when I was a kid with a variety of salt water fish. My house was robbed at that time and the robbers thought it would be funny to smash it.

Now I'm a lot older and saw a deal at petco for 1$ a gallon and sprung for a 55g tank.

Thing is, I'm going to hawaii (maui and honolulu) in October and was thinking I could have some fun snorkeling, catching my own fish a day or two before I left, and mail them back to my own house. I've already seen a lot of material regarding the mailing of fish, but not so much the legal restrictions on it in Hawaii.

I wanted to ask the community here if anyone has prior experience with these kinds of things, or would be able to advise on the legal complexities surrounding catching fish in Hawaii and mailing them into Texas.

From what I have seen, you can get a free permit to collect fish in non restricted areas if you show up to the office and show them the equipment you're using (bucket, net, etc).

 

[albano]

Have fun while you're there... Buy the fish when you get home!

 

[alany611]

Have fun while you're there... Buy the fish when you get home!

I feel like petco and petsmart have really bad selection. There is a nice place in Houston called Fish Gallery but some of them can be pretty pricey. I think I would get more enjoyment out of my tank if I caught them myself. Even if the price ends up being almost the same after shipping, it'd be a ton of fun!

 

[albano]

I hear you, but I think its not that easy to catch anything that would work well in a 55g tank... not to mention the hassle of keeping it till you can ship it back

 

[ace_92101]

If you do a search, there're several threads on collecting in Hawaii. Unless you've done it a lot, collecting fish isn't easy. Plus, getting them back to TX takes some logistics. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[alany611]

If you do a search, there're several threads on collecting in Hawaii. Unless you've done it a lot, collecting fish isn't easy. Plus, getting them back to TX takes some logistics. Hope you have a great trip.

thanks for the reply.

yeah I just took a look at the "hard to take care of species" list and just wow. a lot of different species that can have different temperaments and nutritional needs. seems a little bit out of my depth to go catch fish when I'm not even familiar with the tons of species.

perhaps I could just look out for a couple of hardy fish species that are well suited for aquarium life?

 

[CleverD]

Catching the fish in the wild is very hard work and some times divers use unconventional methods of catching them. In Hawaii i think it might be illegal to catch the fish with out permits. Same deal holds in flordiA for example you can not cut ur own zoas u have to be a licens diver from flordiA to harvest them.


Inwould check that out might be a big hassle but enjoy the trip I am very jellous

 

[wrott]

And so a couple of hrs before your plane takes off leaving HI, you're going to have baggies, ties, O2 cylinder, Styrofoam boxes, hot/cold packs ready? And also know exactly how many cold packs to put in, and tape it up and deliver it to FEDEX?
And then catch your plane??
I don't think so, unless you are OK w/ dead fish in your new aquarium.
Have fun, look at fish, relax--then order from DD.

 

[hkgar]

My recommendation for buying fish online would be LiveAquaria and there jpartner Divers Den. Here is a link to a species compatability chart they have to help in selecting fish for you tank. Also, some species are not reef compatible. and many of the fish you would find while snorkeling may be around the reef where you are because they like nibbling on the coral polyps.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

 

[wildman926]

Buying fish local saves all the headaches of getting it home. I hope you realize what it takes to get live fish and corals from the ocean to the lfs. That is why they are so costly. If it has survived the trip, it has a better chance surviving and thriving in your tank.

 

[goncharkina]

You will get in trouble with customs for catching any livestock. In some countries you will get arrested if you try to export a fish or coral.

 

[ColtonMeng]

You will get in trouble with customs for catching any livestock. In some countries you will get arrested if you try to export a fish or coral.

There is no customs when traveling domestically.

2nd on the avoidance of catching and shipping though. That's double trauma, back to back. I'm thinking that any fish would die without some serious planning being done.

 

[CuzzA]

If it were me going to Hawaii I'd be looking to catch a fat tuna, not a few reef fish.

 

[animalkingdom]

Last I checked you can catch up to 5 fish to take with you.
Also TSA will let you through with them so you dont need to ship, but you may want a print out of the rules on the matter so they don't hold you up.

 

[bfin3]

Sounds way too difficult!

 

[Vilas]

I cant address shipping, but I do fish collection.
It is hard. Amazingly hard. They are clever, fast, and motivated.
If you do go, make sure you have a local reference book handy. The internet helps for commonly kept things, but I've found that in my case, a lot of what I find isn't there, except for some old dissertation somewhere.
As commercial collection here is illegal, a lot of sea life isnt widely available - it could be different in Hawaii, though.
You also have to be certain that you don't have a protected species on your hands.
And if you find something that seems cool, but fairly unknown (ie my little tidepool gobies) quarantine them! They may make excellent pets. Or they may be a total nightmare. You have one shot to return the fish home in the absence of a strictly local only quarantine, and that is on the beach or boat. So be darn certain that either it is a good creature for your tank, or you are willing to give it its own tank.
Good luck!
Oh also, try to find a local reef keeper. If you catch something cool and have a few days to go, maybe they can keep it for you in qt until the day you leave. I've done this for folks.

Edited to fix grammar.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Hey folks - take a look at the posting date. This is a thread that's pretty long in the tooth. I'd imagine that Alany has either taken the advice given, or found out the hard way that getting fish home alive is difficult.

 

[CuzzA]

Hey folks - take a look at the posting date. This is a thread that's pretty long in the tooth. I'd imagine that Alany has either taken the advice given, or found out the hard way that getting fish home alive is difficult.

SMH. I didn't even catch that.

 

[albano]

It appears that 'someone' spent the last few days bumping up old threads in a quest to get 50 posts...

 

[Rob6311]

I would really encourage buying the fish when you get home. When I first started i litterally had no idea there were any saltwater fish stores anywhere near me. After a little bit of online work I found 3, just look online for saltwater fish stores near you, you might be surprised because if you do that its a lot easier to do a lot of research before you get the fish, because if your trying to catch them in the wild you might get excited and catch a very beautiful fish that just isn't right for your tank, so I totally support that you should buy when you get home