Shipment abandoned in San Francisco

[clarionreef]

Today a Fish and wildlife agent called to ask us to take a shipment of live saltwater fishes from the Philippines. [16 boxes]
It was sent Thursday....and supposed to arrive Friday [ Today is Monday] and got delayed in Japan.
As a result, the American importer abandoned the shipment upon arrival Saturday morning.
We got the call Monday morning and picked them up.
We found 50% of it still alive and gave them a slow motion acid acclimation in low light. They were packed about 100 hours prior.
If it were picked up on Saturday morning the DOA would have been a good deal less...probably 80% survival or so.
Its amazing that people make these things occur still.
Steve

 

[bookfish]

Thanks ASAP!
-Jim

 

[Anonymous]

Holy cow! Good thing they called you guys!

 

[Caterham]

MAN --> NGO --> SFO??

Did the guys in Nagoya drop the ball? They dont do that very often. Perhaps the routing was different?

Thanks so much for your efforts. Without you, the animals likely would have perished.

 

[spawner]

Post edited for violating the User Agreement Addendum; The Industry Behind the Hobby Forum. Futher violations may result in the revocation of posting privileges - RDO staff

 

[spawner]

Seems I have a potty mouth.

Generally airline cargo workers and fright forwarders don't really care about what is in the box, they just move boxes all day. If someone would take the time to look at the label and care a small amount they generally can get things turned around very quickly. That only occurs very rearly these days.

Seems crazy to me to send something to Japan before sending to the US.

 

[Jaime Baquero]

Spawner,

It was a connection flight.

 

[PeterIMA]

I suspect that whomever abandoned the fish will still be receiving a hefty bill for the airfreight. Hence, I don't understand why they abandoned the fish.

Peter Rubec

 

[clarionreef]

The shipper is being charged...and if he doesn't pay...he gets black balled from the airlines.
Hopefully this will teach him not to tranship directly to retailers anymore.
The 15 box shipment was divided 6 ways for direct handoff to local retailers....who had no tolerance for delays or imperfections in the shipping process.
Instead of getting the fish Friday after noon...they came in Saturday early am...the inconvenience of a Saturday morning pick-up caused the buyer to abandon them.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

ASC Steve?

 

[Anonymous]

The fish are no longer MAC certified.

 

[Anonymous]

The shipper is being charged...and if he doesn't pay...he gets black balled from the airlines.
Hopefully this will teach him not to tranship directly to retailers anymore.
The 15 box shipment was divided 6 ways for direct handoff to local retailers....who had no tolerance for delays or imperfections in the shipping process.
Instead of getting the fish Friday after noon...they came in Saturday early am...the inconvenience of a Saturday morning pick-up caused the buyer to abandon them.
Steve

heh even as a wholesaler employee, i see nothing terribly wrong about retailers transhipping- if they know how to do it correctly

i've transhipped alot as a retail employee, both sw and fw, in the past

 

[fishinchick]

Now if the industry ran like it should, that store or whoever was responsible to pick up those fish should loose their business license and be banned from ever having anything to do with live animals again.

But it wont.

And he'll kill fish again.

Hopefully the supplier has half a brain and will not sell to this dumb as a rock idiot again. It's too bad that they likely got shorted for the cost of the animals too. I hope not though. I hope this guy has to pay for the whole shipment plus shipping AND doesnt get any of the animals. THAT would be karma.

The sad part is that the shipping industry doesnt care a rat about 'live animals'. Sometimes it seems that putting a label that says "live animals" on the box is just like putting a 'kick me' sign on the class nerd. It only encourages the box to be bounced. To most non-hobbyists fish are just this round eyed thing that has no feelings. You can't expect them to comprehend that rock and plant thingy (a coral) is an animal too. It would be great if they did but they dont.

So while all you reformists are waving flags and posting threads about how the industry should reform, may as well rant about the shipping industry changing for the better too.

Of course, if you rant too much, they will refuse to ship animals.

Cant win, can ya?

 

[PeterIMA]

Repy to FishingChick,

As a "reformist" who is presently importing fish, I share your frustration with the problems concerning the airlines. Some things are beyond the control of either the exporter or the importer. My study seeks to improve shipping practices with the things we can control, such as using additives in the bags to reduce stress, stabilize water quality conditions etc.

Peter Rubec

 

[clarionreef]

Adrienne,
What are you, some kind of non reformist?
As a certifiable member of the brotherhood of importers...I can also attest to the periodic incidence of of disaster in flying fishes to market. Who among us cannot?

Far and away, one loses more to that when a whole 40 box lot goes South....then anything else.
Once US Customs flagged a shipment of mine from Brazil and refused to release it for 4 days without cause.
Without cause in America?
Yep...and when Continental finally flew it to SF anyway after 4 days in Houston heat, they were reprimanded.
80% was dead and the rest died day after day from severe ammonia distress, oxygen depletion and all that becomes relevant when fish live in small bags of water.
This was done deliberately despite daily dozens of protests to all concerned.
When the USFWS confiscates coral and fishes, they have certainly killed a good amount to save them as well.
We are not supposed to speak of this either. Let me say only that they have no idea how to handle fishes and corals in general.
Steve

 

[clarionreef]

ok....
one little tidbit.
Once when a batch of red arowanas was confiscated and held at a USFWS office...I happened in to clear a shipment.
I was asked by an inspector...how often a day do you "have to change water on some fish."
"Filtration kinda takes care of that"... I said carefully.
"Oh...thats the problem", was the reply.
Poor fish.
I should have called the US Humane society on the USFWS that day.
But having been targeted, harassed and threatened [ illegally] for blowing the whistle on them before, I let it slide.
Steve

 

[fishinchick]

No, I am all for reform but I'm also a bit of a pessimist and have seen that greed is what seems to rule the industry 'behind the scenes'. There are a few, and I emphasize "FEW" who are the exception to the rule.

Unfortunately for these few, it makes being competitive very hard.

Yes I've seen big shipments get delayed comming into the wholesaler. However what I WILL say for that wholesaler I worked for is that to my knowledge they never refused a pickup because of a delay. We opened those shipments (and tried to keep our lunches down) and attempt to rescue what we could.

Abandoning a shipment because it's late is stupid. Anyone that's been doing this knows that there is always a chance something will make it unless it's been a week. I had a 15 box shipment going to Minnesota once that was flown to the wrong airport in Minn (at the fault of the airline).
What did those genius people do? Send it BACK to LAX and then reship to the right airport in Minn.
And he only lost a handfull of damsels!!!
Of course that says good things for the packaging procedures.

I've seen fish last two days and do well. Corals and 'verts can often last three if they arent acros or something really sensitive if packed right.

I'm sorry if I'm a doggy downer but I've seen so much in this industry to be discouraged by it - in both wholesale and retail. Greed, ignorance and lack of even caring that these are animals have left me burned out. I've misplaced my pom-poms.

If these were puppies and kittens......

I hope someone can do something. Good luck with the shipping thing.