I only pay about 10 cents for alligator gars and channel cats down here. 10 cents for the bait and I walk over to the lake here in Rockwall and thats in my back yard pretty much, and I can pull them out of the lake.
I never thought of going to chinatown for a channa... something to think about. anyways, for you boston boys, swing by the asian food market in Quincy. they have tilapia, small and largemouth bass, stripers, eels, everything you'd expect to see at an asian food mart.
make sure to quarantine them since they are kept in deplorable conditions and could have some nasty diseases.
(at least the fish in Ranch 99 are kept in nasy tanks with dead and dying fish)