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Importing caught fish.


lickmyarmpit

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Yup, not a problem at all.

 

They do seem to find it hard to believe that a car full of twenty somethings who have been in the states for 12 hours are only hauling back fish though...

 

I get the 'You drove all that way to catch some fish?'

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I get the 'You drove all that way to catch some fish?'

 

 

I was heading down in December last year, five below zero and full blown blizzard. The look on the guy's face was priceless when I said I was going fishing!

 

Asked for the licences, stuck his head in the back real quick and sent us on the way. I thought the white glove treatment was coming for sure that day...

Edited by kemper
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I was heading down in December last year, five below zero and full blown blizzard. The look on the guy's face was priceless when I said I was going fishing!

 

Asked for the licences, stuck his head in the back real quick and sent us on the way. I thought the white glove treatment was coming for sure that day...

 

better then the rubber glove treatment :unsure:

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Haha nice I wasn't sure no special ways to package or anything like that? I don't wanna have to hoop five pounds of mahi fillets.

 

I "believe" you have to have it packed so they can count fillets... And you also need to leave a small patch of skin on each fillet to identify species...

 

"I believe"

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Haha nice I wasn't sure no special ways to package or anything like that? I don't wanna have to hoop five pounds of mahi fillets.

 

I've never crossed with anything but whole, fresh caught fish (within my limit) so I'm not sure about processed fish

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Best to do when going across is to buy something, even if it was under $50, at a 24hr walmart or any fishing store, not just mere fishing across. The custom officer assume everyone going across is to shop , so without declaring anything, they assume you bought some expensive fishing stuff, hid it to avoid paying potential taxes. You can also say you visited Gander mountain or Dicks after your fishing trip, bought only whatever worth of stuff, disappointed, since they do not have good deal this time of the year.

 

My buddy and I got searched for 1.5 hrs once after we fish across till noon, we did not show any proof of our catch nor did we buy anything. They check every single box of our tackle, and our car........ inside out. To an officer, it really sound fishy fishing across US when we have our own canadian body of waters of fish, those who do not fish do not understand our fishing philosophy.

 

However, if I go across with my wife for 7 hrs, and we bought less than $150 worth of stuff on many dollar store or stuff from cheap liquidators store, the customer officer just let us go. We declare right when we entered the US border early morning that we are there to shop for the day.

 

The officer laugh at our purchase once and let us pass, after I declared I bought a bowling ball. Even if the bowling ball and accessories were over $100. Peace Bridge officer are more lenient then Lewiston bridge officer, Lewiston bridge is also closer to the outlet stores, so many go to shop there.

 

Custom Officers are lenient when people declare their purchases, unless they notice a bunch of women immigrant going across for the day for the first time, they are more likely to get search, especially if they mention they only bought $50 worth of goods shopping at Galleria. It might sound discriminatory, but the type of people who shop then lie seems to be those who were not familiar with the system. The more you go across, the more a consistent track record pattern get establish, then no issue going across in the future.

Edited by bassfighter
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I haven’t kept any fish from the US, but the friends I sometimes go with do. So long as the number and species of fish is easily identifiable, you shouldn’t have any problems (They almost never checked us on the way back home). It’s definitely advisable to leave the skin on the fillets and to wrap each fillet separately.

 

There was one spring my friends and I went over the border at least once a week to fish for steelhead. We only ever got stopped once for a 5min search going INTO the US.LOL

 

I was praying they wouldn’t confiscate my “creature baits” :whistling::D

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By the letter of the law, you are allowed up to 44 pounds of fish (20KG) per person. There is NO requirement for keeping skin/heads attached per CANADIAN import rules. But the laws of the US apply up to the point you cross the border. For example, if the NY fish law states that you must keep the patch of skin or head on, than you better keep it on.

 

Second, short of a receipt (which you wouldn't have if you caught them), you *could* be asked to show proof of your State fishing permit. This may not be obvious to everyone, but some clever people thought a good way to avoid paying tax on fish purchased from a supermarket/store is to simply unwrap the fish and claim they caught it. I'll be honest, that did work for many years.

 

edit: here's the import limit page:

 

http://www.beaware.g...rirape.shtml#a1

Edited by Donnie
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