Has anyone transported live fish on a plane before? .... any special care i should take if i decide to pick up some fish in la and fly them home to chicago? any concerns about cabin pressure or that sort of thing? is this really any different than shipping the via FedEx/UPS? it will save me a ton of money on shipping and decrease the time the fish spend in transport...let me know if you;ve got experience to share...thanks!
Transporting fish on airplane?
- Thread starter apaws62
- Start date
Contact your airline and see what they say. Many airlines will no longer allow fish as a carry on. Otherwise, no problems--the cabin is pressurized, so that's not a concern. You may want to bring a soft sided cooler to put the bagged fish in, so help maintain temperature.
if the airline allows it and you use the proper containers im pretty sure that the fish would have a better trip than fedex but i could be wrong.
i seem to remember a buddy of mine brought a coral on flight as a carry on not too long ago. domestic flight should not be a problem. put the fish in as large a baggie as possible, maybe (1) 4" fish in a (1) gallon bag, half filled with water and pump pure oxygen until full tight. double/triple bag it if you can and tie the ends good. wrap and tape some newspaper around the bottom half of the bag so the fish is covered. being your transport is not too long no additional additives needed in water or heat/cool packs. I would put the bag of fish in a styrofoam box with lid, fill empty voids with newspaper and keep lid on so the fish is in the dark. if you have to "show the fish" the newspaper wrapped around the bag will prevent light shock.
One time I was watching an episode of Airline and Southwest airlines wouldn't allow a man to carry on a live piranaha in a bag. Something else I have wondered about, when I ordered my fish they were shipped overnite from California to North carolina, so they flew on a plane. But onetime I was going to the carribean and i took a bunch of bottled water with me in the bag i checked, and when i arrived at my destination all the water was frozen.
live shipments go to diffrent part of plane. so really the only weather the shiped fish face is when it is not in plane.
The cargo hold receives the same pressurization air bled from the compressor side of the engines as the cabin does. That said...
It depends on the individual aircraft type as to how well the air to the hold is "trimmed". Some actually require "floor heat" in the way of engine compressor bleed air to keep the temperatures tolerable and help keep the cabin at a decent temperature as well.
In the end, if you put the fish in the cargo hold, it had better be in a styrofoam container (like the ones air shippers like FedEx and UPS recommend) to prevent temperature extremes, both high and low, from hurting the fish. Also, some passenger airline baggage handlers will not exercise the same care FedEx and UPS do in ensuring the live fish don't get tossed and shaken to death. I've had nice suitcases split in half by Delta Airlines. (Still, I'll check baggage rather than carry a ton of carry-ons).
nccoastal is correct in that some carriers exercise better handling practices than others. Typically, they load live shipments of anything (dog/cat kennels, fish, etc.) last so that they don't sit on the ramp for an extended period of time. That way, upon pulling into the terminal, the live cargo is first out.
Ask the airline, as they all differ in carry-on carriage policy. Make sure the container will fit in the overhead bin, and put a jacket or article of clothing under it to help dampen the vibrations that invariably happen with any flight.
If some numbnuts from another row hogs your overhead bin (and everybody else's because he's too selfish to check a few bags), take his luggage out and put it in the aisle. The stewardesses will ask for the name of the guy on the tag, have him come over, and have him check his excess baggage into the cargo hold. That way you won't have to try to shove your fish under the seat.
v/r, N-A
It depends on the individual aircraft type as to how well the air to the hold is "trimmed". Some actually require "floor heat" in the way of engine compressor bleed air to keep the temperatures tolerable and help keep the cabin at a decent temperature as well.
In the end, if you put the fish in the cargo hold, it had better be in a styrofoam container (like the ones air shippers like FedEx and UPS recommend) to prevent temperature extremes, both high and low, from hurting the fish. Also, some passenger airline baggage handlers will not exercise the same care FedEx and UPS do in ensuring the live fish don't get tossed and shaken to death. I've had nice suitcases split in half by Delta Airlines. (Still, I'll check baggage rather than carry a ton of carry-ons).
nccoastal is correct in that some carriers exercise better handling practices than others. Typically, they load live shipments of anything (dog/cat kennels, fish, etc.) last so that they don't sit on the ramp for an extended period of time. That way, upon pulling into the terminal, the live cargo is first out.
Ask the airline, as they all differ in carry-on carriage policy. Make sure the container will fit in the overhead bin, and put a jacket or article of clothing under it to help dampen the vibrations that invariably happen with any flight.
If some numbnuts from another row hogs your overhead bin (and everybody else's because he's too selfish to check a few bags), take his luggage out and put it in the aisle. The stewardesses will ask for the name of the guy on the tag, have him come over, and have him check his excess baggage into the cargo hold. That way you won't have to try to shove your fish under the seat.
v/r, N-A
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I've transported fish once and man... What a pain! First of all the security at lax told me I couldn't place my puffer to the x-ray or else it'll fry him. Apparently all living things must go thru the metal detector just as we do. So I take my puffer out of its bag and watch him flip flop on the floor thru the metal detector. The **** puffer set of the alarm. So one of the workers told me to check and see if my fish had any metal on him. I checked and apparently he had his cell phone on him. too make a long story short, make sure your fish removes all metal from his pockets and don't let him drink too much alcohol on the plane.