Transporting Fish legalities

doctorzeb · Post by **doctorzeb** » 14 Oct 2003, 14:34

Just seen the topic in the Lor. forum about transporting fish. I've also noted on various other posts at different times about going on holiday and bringing fish back. Just out of curiosity, what are the legal restrictions on this. I would have thought it would be the same for any other livestock, or meat / organic produce. Surely if i was to go to the rio xingu, and catch myself a couple of lurvely little fishies, I couldn't just stick them in a bottle and bring them back to the UK. What about liscencing or quarentine?

cheers

rob

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 14 Oct 2003, 15:37

doctorzeb wrote:Just seen the topic in the Lor. forum about transporting fish. I've also noted on various other posts at different times about going on holiday and bringing fish back. Just out of curiosity, what are the legal restrictions on this. I would have thought it would be the same for any other livestock, or meat / organic produce. Surely if i was to go to the rio xingu, and catch myself a couple of lurvely little fishies, I couldn't just stick them in a bottle and bring them back to the UK. What about liscencing or quarentine?

Rio Xingu is a bad example, as you would probably find yourself spending several months inside a Brazilian prison cell, as happened to some German aquarists recently. If you know the right people you can go and collect the fish with them, and have them deposited with an exporter, and if you are lucky they will send the fish once all the documenation is in place (on the other hand they may get a better offer for the fish from someone else). Other countries in South America are also tightening up on this. You don't need a license to transport non-commercial quantities of fish within the European
Union, so you can go and get them from exporters there if you find that they have the fish you want. Best thing to do is check with CEFAS or DEFRA (put these terms into a sreach engine) and ask them, but you may also need permission to take them out of the country of origin.

Post by **Silurus** » 14 Oct 2003, 15:53

It usually depends more on the quarantine laws and the laws for bringing in livestock of the country you are entering.
With a few notable exceptions, the laws (if any) for bringing live fishes out of a country are not strictly-enforced. Plus, it's usually no real problem to do it discreetly (regardless of its legality) because there is no one at the airport to monitor what you bring out (customs officials are more interested in what you bring into, not out of, their country).

Caol_ila · Post by **Caol_ila** » 14 Oct 2003, 16:35

Hi!

I know its quite a bad comparison, but a german tourist "collected" a stone at the beach in Turkey and put it in his suitcase and tried to pass customs...hes been put in jail for smuggling antiques. Can imagine if you bring home Bettas from Thailand something like this could happen? Wouldnt wonna spend any time in a jail for a fish.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 14 Oct 2003, 22:42

Caol_ila wrote:Hi!

I know its quite a bad comparison, but a german tourist "collected" a stone at the beach in Turkey and put it in his suitcase and tried to pass customs...hes been put in jail for smuggling antiques. Can imagine if you bring home Bettas from Thailand something like this could happen? Wouldnt wonna spend any time in a jail for a fish.

That tourist was arrogant and rude (to officials - NEVER a good idea) in the extreme according to certain news reports. It appeared that he (and many other people I've met on my travels) just don't get the fact that they are visitors in someone elses country and should conduct themselves with some humilty and not complain "that the tea just isn't like tea back home" all the time. Rock or no rock, it's how you deal with people.

Anyway, doing everything by the book is no guarantee whenit comes to fish transporting either. I entirely legally tried to take two boxes of fish out of Iquitos. After being pulled back out of the the plane after boarding and being detained by several armed guards, a big dog and some dodgy "customs" officials on the tarmac under the plane. I very luckily managed to convince them of the legitimicy of my paperwork and that they really were fish that I had in the boxes. That was nothing in comparison to the antics in Lima.

Having some language and a knowledge of "how things are done" in another country is almost a useful as the export permit.

Jools

Post by **Silurus** » 14 Oct 2003, 23:51

I'll say. It especially helps if the person you know is the big man around a small provincial town.
It *ahem* helps to get things done.

doctorzeb · Post by **doctorzeb** » 15 Oct 2003, 09:55

Didn't realise the fish trade had so many similarities with the mafia

.

So the general consensus is,...DON'T DO IT. Mind you, at this point in time, My nearest thing to a holiday will be a weekend in Blackpool! SO I guess I'm safe. Mind you, I imagine it's not quite the same adrenaline rush as putting a Stickleback in a coke bottle and carrying it across the scottish border!!!

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 15 Oct 2003, 22:12

The antics in Lima? sounds quite a bit like a chapter out of Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas... care to elaborate?

Post by **Silurus** » 15 Oct 2003, 22:20

Looks like Jools wasn't the only one with troubles in Iquitos.
This made for quite amusing reading (you have to scroll all the way to the bottom).

Transporting Fish legalities

Transporting Fish legalities

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