now im confused... is this legal or not legal?

[ProjectSeahorse]

Hi,
A few months ago I posted on different forums online and such asking the quetisons that if we are allowed to bring live marine fish around the world. And mostly my answers were all yes. It is not against the law to transport live marine fish from another country to U.S. Im going to visit Taiwan this summer and i was thinking about bringing some live marine fish because it is really cheap there. I know corals are not allowed but I thought fish were. Anyways, I started to have second thoughts abou brining marine fish because I came acrossed this article online. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8117876/ Is it because it is freshwater? or we cant transport live fish at all?

[deedo]

IMO the australians are smarter about this sort of thing that in the US. Then again, they've been badly burned a few times.

I'd guess that there are no laws agains importing unprotected species to an inland state. (just a guess.)
Coastal states may have such laws but I bet they're laxer than the aussies have.

[perky]

that article is an australian article. we have very strict laws about importing fish into NZ. Check this out:

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/borde.../154-02-06.htm


http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/impor...sornic.all.htm

Perky

[d34532]

ProjectSeahorse,

Lol I read that story from Yahoo odd new. In order to bring in animal and plant from one country to another you'll have to go thru paper work. Believe it or not it happens a lot and most often people don't declare what they don't bring in because it is illegal. If you still plan to get fish from Taiwan and bring it into your home country you probably want to contact your fish and game department and taiwans also and get an international premit. Hehehe probably more trouble then its worth.

As for that story
My guess to the fish that she was bring in was Arrowana (Asain type), if she was doing it for money. The Asain type are protected under CITE. In the US if you wanted one of these they can be easiest gotten if you know where to go and have anywhere from $1,500 (normal) to $5,000+ (better color) per fish (2 to 3inches) the price that I'm stating here is on the low end for top color your like at the price of a 20,000+. Being that she went from Asia to Australia and wanted to take the fish from there to US it be easier because the Australia Arrowana is legal in the US and only cost about $30 to $50 per fish for the same size. Or she could have just sold it there. If you want to know what the difference Asian and Australian their isn't much mainly the scale count (biggest giveaway) and a little body shape.

[perky]

My lfs has to have a permit to sell the asian arowanas. They are really nice colours though. If I still had my freshwater tank and $5000 NZD then I would definately get one. You say that the ones that you can get get are only 2-3", the ones that we can get are 10"+.

She was pretty stupid to bring fish into Australia though considering the large fine and a possible prison sentence.

My 2 cents worth.

Perky

[d34532]

Perky,

Its the same here in the US with the fine and prison time. The normal price that I see a lot is about 1,000 to 2,000 but the nice is nice but when Im talking about the better color I should say the top most color and very top color the sky is almost the limit hehehe. Being in NZ its probably cheaper to get them and in the US I haven't get seen anyone have a permit at the LFS. Most often you'll see "not for sale" lol

[perky]

How much are Royal Grammas over there? Royal Grammas cost about $120 NZD (About $70-$80 USD).

We are really over priced over here.

perky

[jjmg]

If your in the US just give a call to customs at your local airport. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes and your answer will be much better than what you get here. Why not ask the ones who will be doing the looking?

[shermlock]

Royal Grammas cost $7-20 around me.

[perky]

I live in New Zealand. If any of you have come here before you will no how strict our biosecurity laws are. If you bring in an apple and don't declare it you get a $200 NZD fine ($120 USD). The variety of fish and inverts we get here is pretty poor considering what you get over in the US. Peppermint shrimp aren't even allowed in.

perky

[d34532]

jjmg,

True you can get answer from customs but you'll have to find a non lazy customs agent that knows what they are talking about and not give you the run around. From what I heard sometimes even if you go with the paperwork and you have a customs agent that doesn't know will want proof that these are legal because they are unsure. This whole time you have your package sit at the airport for few hours or a day or two.