Shipping coral from puerto rico

[rhudgins]

Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm going to store them in my checked in luggage tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how it goes!


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[Alfredo De La Fe]

I have collected hermit crabs, snails and polyps in PR. If you are thinking of bringing back Acropora Palmata or Staghorn or ANY stony coral for that matter, DONT. If you get caught, you may find yourself in a cell for a few hours while someone comes to bail you out.

Same rules apply in Puerto Rico as in Florida, except that there are more places for you to get caught because you have to go through the Department of Agriculture and they have received some training over the past few years to spot such things.

Alfred

No personal experience but here's a good place to start research...
http://www.cites.org/

Not sure if PR has any exemptions being a self-governing unincorporated territory of the U.S. (wikipedia).

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

You CAN buy coral and non-local fish in PR aquarium shops, BUT Customs and Agriculture agents can either tell the difference or know who to call rather quickly to determine if a coral is from local waters or not. Pretty hard to claim that "I bought it" if it is illegal to collect and there is not a single country where the coral is found which allows it's export. (Acropora Palmata is at the top of the list)

Alfred

So in theory, if someone bought them in PR or got them from someone else's tank, it would be ok? Not saying this is the case (or isn't), just curious.

 

[Josh]

All legal issues aside, I'm wondering what type of coral would be worth doing all of this? Most corals in that area are pretty ugly looking, IMO. The only things that would be of interest to collectors are sea fans and possibly maze corals. The only thing with amazing color in PR are the sponges.

 

[Dre]

I am in puerto rico and have a few pieces of coral that i would like to bring back to new York tomorrow. Does anyone have experience with thos? Do you think i can bring The coral in ny carry on or should i place then in ny luggage? i am going to wrap then in wet paper towels, place then in plastic bags and then put in a cooler with a heat pack. Any suggestions for thos trip would be great! i want to make sure these beautiful pieces survive.


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Please let us know the out come of this if when you return.

 

[noodleman]

shipping corals in wet paper towels works!! just do a search on them on RC or even google

 

[sjsoto]

i guess he got arrested....

 

[GreshamH]

keep them in the carry on ...the temp in the luggage compart is not temp controll just hope when u get here u get dont hassel at jfk or what ever air port u come in at good luck hope ur stuff make it

Odd.... every single piece of stony coral in the US at one time was shipped via non temp controlled air cargo and we seem to have plenty of them surviving

I've sent well over 10K boxes of MO livestock via air cargo (non temp controlled). Every time I go to a reef event that I fly to (20+ times a year) I ship back coral with my luggage. Very few cases of DOA/DAA

 

[rhudgins]

So when I got to the airport this morning the USDA was right at the check in! So I proceeded to check my bag in and head toward the gate. I did not wait around for the USDA to place my bag through the scanner because there were many bags ahead of mine and I did not feel like waiting. I arrived at Newark this evening and just KNEW that my bag was not going to show up at the baggage check out. Well...there my bag came I opened it up and the cooler was still in there! I just got home and placed the corals in my tank. At first glance they appear to be stressed but still alive. I'll see how they fare over the next few days.

Prior to arriving I wrapped the coral pieces in wet paper towels, double bagged them and placed them in a cooler. I did not add a heat pack because the temp this morning was 85+ and I feared that I would overheat the coral.

Thanks again everyone for your advice.

 

[sjsoto]

pics?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

How were the corals obtained by you initially?

 

[dubs]

i would like to see pics also

 

[wnlandfo]

Congrats! Hope they survive.


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[Chiefmcfuz]

Yes congrats on smuggling coral.

 

[chinatown]

Yes congrats on smuggling coral.

lulz