# bring south american fish to canada?



## loner_wolf_69 (Oct 17, 2013)

do you need a permit to bring fish to canada? i see lots of add for wild fish from south America. i have a relative that goes there every winter. can he bring fish back with him? thanks for any advice.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

AS far as I know...yes. But for certain fish. Research it and print out everything you fine (reputable sources only) so that you dont get in trouble if you or anyone else gets questioned


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Be very sure you have the correct species names, because if there is any doubt, you'll have problems. Contact the Canadian border services agency, CBSA, and find out exactly what rules apply. They will want the species names exactly as well, it's the only way they can find if any given species is restricted or not. I had a heck of a time just finding out if it was legal to import Dero worms from the US.. it took me more than a week and at least a dozen phone calls to various references to find out what rules applied. Turned out they are a native species and perfectly legal to import, but US Fish and Game was telling me I had to pay a huge fee for some inspection first. Turned out that wasn't quite right either, because I was buying them from a farmed source, not wild collected. So be sure you get it right, the folks at the border have absolutely no sense of humour.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Also, check this out http://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/aquatic-animals/eng/1299155892122/1320536294234 There are a few fish on the list. Some are rather surprising, as they are very common. As well, ensure that the fish in question aren't on the CITES list. Other than that, make sure the fish are brought in for personal use, NOT for sale.


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## bluegularis (May 12, 2010)

This question has numerous things to consider, yes getting fish into Canada is not that much of a problem. Just do research and get the right paperwork. 

However getting the fish out of South America has several different issues,

Brazil, do not take any fish out - you will be arrested if caught. Even with paperwork, you can be arrested.

Uruguay - has closed borders and you need proper paperwork, airlines may still refuse them , rules have become a major issue over the last few years.

Peru, export them through a licensed exporter, no problem, bring them out your self and you can run into trouble.

Most of the Guyana shield each country has different paperwork requirements, verify these first.

Any fish that is on cites can give issues at the source or arriving in Canada.

Brazil is such that on a trip to Uruguay the plane was supposed to transfer in Brazil, coming back with collected fish, even though these fish were collected and caught in Uruguay with the proper paperwork, when they would have hit the ground in Brazil I would have been arrested. So find out the rules first. Also most flight to SA go through the US and they also have there rules and regulations when they land and when they leave.

Check your paperwork and regulations. 
You may want to buy the fish in your loacal petshop.

Thanks


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## loner_wolf_69 (Oct 17, 2013)

*to much trouble*

thanks to all that replied, seems to be to much trouble to bother with that. its just that i keep seeing ,"wild caught" fish in many adds and it seemed so easy.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Don't know for sure, but it may be that many of those ads are posted by folks who themselves have no idea what they're doing, or perhaps don't much care what the rules are. People who catch fish for vendors get paid such a piddly amount of money for the work, perhaps some are simply trying to augment their income.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

There may be a difference between fish you have bought at a store versus those you have collected. I know some who brought fish from I think was Costa Rica, and they had prices on the bags (as if bought from a store) and no questions were asked. Collected fish from Uruguay, came in without issue, although the Customs guys tried to trip the importers up by asking if they were for sale.Correct answer, is for personal use. Regardless, it is, as actually mentioned, probably easier to get fish from legitimate local sources.


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## bluegularis (May 12, 2010)

*Fish from Uruguay*

Yes - but I also know of a collecting trip from Uruguay where the airlines refused to take the fish on-board and all the collectors had to leave them there, they could not take their fish back home.
Really anti-climatic on doing a collecting trip when you can't take any fish out of the country. South America is becoming more and more like that unless you have University credentials and the collecting paperwork to allow you to take them back.


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## CanadaPleco (Sep 7, 2009)

bluegularis said:


> Brazil, do not take any fish out - you will be arrested if caught. Even with paperwork, you can be arrested.


This is not true.


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## bluegularis (May 12, 2010)

*it is true*

Unfortunately it is, ask Heiko Bleher who tried getting out a preserved specimen, There was also a dutch killi group who were detained, they had paperwork, but by the time they arrived at the INRA office all the paperwork had vanished, they had to fork out $5,000 in fines and they could never re-enter Brazil. I can give you there names.

You can thank Mr. Costa for creating all this.

Now you can get fish out but it is best done when you collect with a commercial collector and get him to send the fish to you. Again it is only the fish that are on the list of allowed exported species. Thye do however sneak them in. This is the reason that every pleco down there is known as momma or poppa pleco.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Using Heiko as an example isn't a good one. He is notorious for doing some (many?) questionable things. He is fearless in his quests, going where others fear to tread because of the imminent danger. I do know that Hernan Lopez-Fernandez, from the ROM makes almost annual collection trips to South America and brings back preserved specimens. His trips have resulted in the finding of many new species. So, whatever partnerships he has, while different from an individual might have, works, so their may be avenues for the rest of us. Perhaps not in collecting, but in buying legally caught fish that are being sold there. If I recall correctly, our club members who went to Uruguay, went with an outfitter, who had everything arranged. Still, one would have to be sure all necessary steps were taken, which in some places might be problematic. Way too much trouble for me.


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## bluegularis (May 12, 2010)

Again you hit the nail on the head, he works for the ROM, this may have gotten him special paperwork that you and I can not get. 
I have gotten fish out of Uruguay with 3 collectors from the university of Montevideo and the proper paperwork, this was 8 years ago. The following year the same group without me, went and got fish with the same paperwork, however when they arrived at the airport the airlines refused to take the fish. They had chosen a charter that year and the airline refused the fish on board, no clear reasons.
Do all your research and then it can still be a crap shoot.


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