Go buy your fish in person?

[Cirrus]

I notice the Europeans are organizing buying trips to Japan for serious koi hobbyists: http://www.nishikigoicenter.nl/koopreizen.html (*note: hit the Google translate button up top to read in English)

I wonder how long before that happens for Asian arowana? I think there was a fellow opening up a guest house on Neo Tiew Road, where many Arowana farms are located in Singapore. If anyone ever stays there, let us know.

 

[m_class2g]

hardcore fish keepers!

theo, im heading over to asia in the new year. whats the procedure to bring fish back after they are sourced out? maybe if i find a nice aro, rays, st hmm... lol.

 

[peacockbass]

that would be trip of a lifetime...go and handpick one from an aro farm....one of these days i'd like to do that.....

 

[carcrazy]

Sounds like a vacation tour, like the ones to see the rain forest. That would be very cool, a tour of various asian countries, different fish farms, pet stores/markets and zoos and you get to buy an aro to take home. Where do I sign up?

 

[chen88]

I would love to go on one of those trips to Brazil to get Black Rays!...heard it can be dangerous too with the trades in Brazil but how cool would that be to see all the Rays before they get distributed!....

 

[bcarlos]

I would love to go on one of those trips to Brazil to get Black Rays!...heard it can be dangerous too with the trades in Brazil but how cool would that be to see all the Rays before they get distributed!....

Yeah, Brazil is a whole other can of worms. Not just because it's dangerous, but because politically it's so effed up that I can't imagine it's easy as a hobbyist to just go down there and come home with a black ray. I know a few guys who've wanted to do the same with big pseudacanthicus. Talk about putting your neck on the line for your hobby!

 

[JMorash]

Brazil is probably one of safer countries to travel to in South America. Other than petty crime, cocaine trade and the odd political riot (which most CA/SA countries are known for) it's safer than Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, etc.

However bringing fish out of there would be tough. Quite a few of the nice stuff is restricted in some way by IBAMA regulations and the other stuff comes out of the Xingu region, which is a large protected chunk of brazil and generally you need permission to enter it. If you have enough money, you can get anything in South America, even Brazil in Brazil. Just gotta know who to talk to and then let the money do the talking.

I believe Oliver and Spencer Jack run collecting trips down south. They aren't cheap though. I do know some guys around here who travel and bring fish home. One guy brings Koi home from around the globe. Another guy usually brings a box of rare cichlids back from Germany every year as a carry on.

Apparently it's all about knowing how to pack your own fish, knowing the laws about shipping what you have and making sure everyone who is involved in the process knows what is going on well before your plane lands.

Or if you have a good friend who knows fish at home, you could always just ship your fish to them and have them receive them for you.

 

[RTG_Gerry]

Spencer only goes to Uruguay now. He says Brazil is just too hard to get fish out, and he says the japanese exporters are throwing so much money around, it's a VERY expensive venture.