Questions about starting a fish import business

I am looking at starting a fish import business for predatory fish like rays, cichla, asian captive bred, africans(cb and wc), dats, etc. I know these are trade secrets to some, but I have found a large number of exporters in various areas and I don't know who is food and who is not. I have transhipped saltwater from asia in quantity, but it has been a while and never freshwater. Any help would be appreciated.

I see a market for uncommon predators in my area and I would love a side business to bring in some extra cash and provide a good source for local hobbyists with quality stock not otherwise easily available.

PM me if you don't want it to be public knowledge. Not looking to ever ship so those of you not in the midwest I will never be competiton.

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I didn't think this would be easy. It was a lot of trial and error 13 years ago finding good marine exporters from asia. It took me 3 shipments to find someone I could trust to send me what I ordered, mostly. I was single then so mistakes only affected me, now I have a family. I would hate to drop so dough and get screwed.

Hopefully someone kind eventually shares some of their contacts. I think we in the Midwest could benefit a lot from the deals others in the states get regularly.

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I was able to ship through detroit in the past from Indonesia. Had to pay some one to broker my shipment through customs, but I didn't have an import license at the time. I have already checked on it and it doesn't seem hard to obtain. I know a few people who import in the south but they won't give me anything. Moved away but I guess they are afraid of potential for competition.

Thanks, I will register a business and get my import permit and then I will start contacting sellers. I figured there are a lot of exporters looking to ship only large orders. I was thinking 5 boxes at a time, and buying relatively small numbers of each type not box lots. I was hoping some body here could let me know good places for smaller orders. Planned system is about 1000 gallons total so obviously can't take in more than a couple hundred fish at a time depending on species.

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Well finally got to the point where I felt it was time to register a business name. I am awaiting the paperwork to obtain my EIN now, should be here by the end of the week. Have read up a lot on importing rules and regulations too. I would like to go through an airport in Michigan if possible. Does anyone have good transhippers for freshwater fish they would like to share? Like I said before I would like to bring in fish from Amazon River system, African Rift Lakes, and Asia (wc and cb).

Thanks for any help you can provide.