Bringing home some fish?

[flatland fisher]

Are there any rules/laws for bringing back fish caught outside the US? I've been checking with a couple outfits in Aruba for a fishing trip. I asked what became of the catch as I'd like to bring home some wahoo and mahi should I be lucky enough to land some. I'm being told the health dept and customs won't allow meat to be brought with me. It sounds like BS to me as I brought home fish from Cabo just last Oct. I was planning on taking a small cooler with me and using that as one of my pieces of checked luggage. I just don't know if there is anywhere to freeze it while I'm there.

Can anyone help me out?

Thanks

Ryan

[Deep C]

The boss and his guest have no problem from the Bahamas... My guests that I have had from there have had no problems for years. I toted some home last week going through Nassau and even some conch and going through there you are checked way way thoughly...
Meat is a different story. Hell they will quarantine your shoes if you walked on a farm. My wife is from South Africa and they make a beef jerky called biltong that is out of this world good. Try and bring some back though and they will pin you down and flog you...

[snowranger]

It is BS. Foreign charters always try to pull that. You can bring any dead seafood into the US, fresh or frozen. Ask the kitchen in your hotel if you can store a bag in their walk-in freezer. Put a little water in the ziplocks and they will last for a day in a cooler without any additional ice. I regularly bring a cooler and a roll of duct tape. Let them inspect at the Aruba airport and then tape it closed. Customs will probably make you open it because the customs declaration form doesn't differentiate between meat and fish. If you answer that you are bringing food products into the country, you have to go through a different line. They will take a peak and then tape it back up. Hope this helps.