Book the fish into a flight the night before. Use Air Canada (or Air Canada Jazz) for shipping, assuming it is not bankrupt. They open at 5 am for cargo. Book using the UBC account number (394726) and also give the speed code for billing. United Airlines is the alternative airline. They open at 6:30 am. We do not have an account there so you will need to book using a credit card.
Bring the fish to the cargo area at least 2 hours prior to the flight time. Customs may wish to view the fish before the cooler and boxes are taped, so keep them untaped until then.
Bring copies of the collecting permits to send with the fish. You may not need them, but the cargo people sometimes want to include documents that the fish were collected legally.
After sending off the fish, fax or email the following information to the receiver:
The name of the airline carrier
The waybill number of the shipment (needed for Customs)
Number of fish sent
Number of coolers sent
Pack fish into coolers immediately before shipment. Give yourself at least a half hour preparation time for EACH cooler of fish being sent (assuming that you’ve prepared other items ahead of time: plastic bags, ice, labeled boxes for coolers, full oxygen tank). You’ll probably need more time if you’re sending more than one type of fish and need to organize them while you’re packing.
Pack fish into either soda bottles or clear sturdy plastic bags inside sturdy coolers. You will need a cooler about 14 inches high to fit soda bottles. The coolers will need to be placed into boxes for shipping so keep any box that comes when you buy the cooler. Otherwise, find suitable boxes well ahead of time.
Tape the coolers tightly shut with duct tape or heavy strapping tape. Wrap each cooler in a plastic bag and seal before stuffing into cardboard box. Tape the box shut with duct tape or strapping tape.
Label the boxes for shipment with the address of the receiver (include phone and fax number) and various warnings: "Live Arctic Fish" "Keep Refrigerated".
Soda bottles
Use 2 litre soda bottles that have been well rinsed (remove all smell of soda). Fill each bottle halfway with dechlorinated water. Place about 5 fish per bottle. Bubble oxygen into the bottle for a minute and then cap it tightly.
Place bottles vertically into cooler. Surround the bottles with ice to cool fish and reduce metabolic demand in transit.
Clear plastic bags
Put 2 large ziploc bags of ice in the bottom of the cooler. Insert a large clear plastic bag into cooler and fill to 1/3 with dechlorinated water. Add about 5 ml of Prime. Then add the fish (no more than 50 per cooler). Bubble oxygen into the bag while holding the mouth of the bag closed (use the green oxygen cylinder in the main wetlab). Fill with oxygen until the bag is nearly filled to the top level of the cooler. Tie off the bag tightly to keep any air from leaking.Dr. David Kingsley Department of Developmental Biology Beckman Center B300 279 Campus Drive Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-5329 (650) 725-5954 - phone (650) 725-7739 - fax kingsley@pmgm2.stanford.edu Use an airline cargo service to San Francisco International Airport. ----------------- Dr. Katie Peichel Division of Human Biology Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 1100 Fairview Ave North Mailstop D4-100, PO Box 19024 Seattle, WA 98109-1024 (206) 667-1628 (office) (206) 667-2917 (fax) cpeichel@fhcrc.org