# What is the deal with Hawaii ??



## karpediem (Feb 15, 2012)

Does anyone ship betta to Hawaii before ? Any problems ?
I sent betta few times to Hawaii before but only few fishes per box and have never got any problems until last friday. A staff from the wild life from USPS distribution center from Hawaii called me and stated that the box of fishes i sent to that customer have been refused and they will return it back to me and i should get it next tuesday.
The reason they refused was that my customer did not have all the papers legal to get his shipment. They said he must have a permit to get his betta which really confused me now. 
Like i said, i sent betta before to Hawaii and have never heard any complaints from those customers. I thought maybe before they didn't check the others box and now they checked it because i sent more, 60 fishes, 20 ct, 20 hm and 20 hmplakat all males, so maybe the size of the box was bigger and it caught their attention. 
They sent me the box back because they dont want all those fishes sit in their warehouse without any proper care, they may die.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

That's weird. Being a state I don't know why they'd need a license to get the fish.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

It may be a state, but due to the unique island ecosystem, Hawaii is very strict about their import policies. 
Importing Animals to Hawai`i from the U.S. Mainland — Hawaii Department of Agriculture


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## Leeniex (Aug 14, 2011)

You should have checked into that before shipping them, huh?


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## karpediem (Feb 15, 2012)

I don't have to check for local shipping, Hawaii is a State of the US. It is the buyer responsability to make sure he has all the papers or permet if need it to get his shipment. 
I only check if i send fishes out of USA. I send a box of hm pairs once a month to Japan and i always have to make sure i have all the papers works for the custom at the airport and my customer do the same on his side when he go to pick it up at his airport.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

I agree with you. One should always know the state regulations on animals before purchasing them. Some things that you would never think of as illegal are even in the contiguous 48.


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## styggian (Dec 13, 2011)

karpediem said:


> I don't have to check for local shipping, Hawaii is a State of the US. It is the buyer responsability to make sure he has all the papers or permet if need it to get his shipment.
> I only check if i send fishes out of USA. I send a box of hm pairs once a month to Japan and i always have to make sure i have all the papers works for the custom at the airport and my customer do the same on his side when he go to pick it up at his airport.


Agreed, if you want to purchase something or import something, it's on you to know the laws in your own area, not expect the seller to have time to research every country/state/city to make sure it can happen.

I'm in Wisconsin, I can't expect someone on the other side of the country, let alone the other side of the planet, to magically know whether or not a heatpack will be necessary. I live here, they don't.


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