I'm going to Alaska to fish and will need to have the fish shipped home in Tx. What is the cheapest way.?

Question

I'm going to Alaska to fish and will need to have the fish shipped home in Tx. What is the cheapest way.?

Answer 1

okay here is what i did instead of packing a big suitcase i packed a tiny, tiny suitcase, tiny enough as to count as a carry-on then since u can only have one luggage i then bought a cooler there and packed it with the fish then on the way back i counted the cooler as my luggage and my suitcase as my carry-on(but we had a washer and dryer in our cabin)

Hope this helps

Answer 2

UPS will ship it for you and it will arrive frozen solid. Call any office when you get here and follow the instructions. Welcome to Alaska!

(Edited to correct..I said Fedex but then changed it to UPS after I verified).

Answer 3

There are plenty of fish cleaning, freezing and shipping options/services in Alaska.  The last time I was there the shipping was pretty expensive.  We shipped a few packages to relatives back East, but more as a novelty.  It didn't make sense dollar wise.  You could buy it in the local store for less.   But everyone loved it.

In terms of getting it home.  The best option is to only keep fish on the last day of the trip.  Take it to one of the fish cleaning services.  Have it put in vacume sealed bags and flash frozen as soon as possible.  The cost wasn't too bad, but I don't recall the details.  We waited at a local pub while they did it.  Maybe 3 hrs start to finish...roughly 60lbs of salmon and halibut.  The flash freezing seals in the freshness and really makes a difference in quality.  The vacuum bags ensure it will taste good for months!

They will often sell you high quality coolers if needed....or bring your own.  We brought coolers empty, packing our gear in one and food in the other (to save $$, food is more expensive up there)  On the way back our food was gone and we carried more gear on the plane, using the coolers for fish.  They stayed frozen solid.  So cold, it burned when you touched them.

If you fill the cooler up with frozen fish, it will easily make it home still frozen.  A big block of frozen fish, if sealed well, takes a lot to defrost.  You could throw some dry ice in there as well (on top, not bottom), but it's really not needed.  Just make sure you have a good cooler.  You can also pack some newspaper in there as well.  Fill in air gaps and across the top.  It acts as really good insulation.

Also...you will need tape the cooler shut, but the airlines will want to inspect it at the airport.  I don't trust them packing it back up or how they handle it.  (fyi - you might need to keep the fish skin on a few pieces for identification.  Check the regs.)  I would recommend bringing straps, like those blue ones people use to strap items to car roof racks.  Most outdoors sports stores have them.  Put one or two of the straps around the cooler to ensure it stays shut.  I put two, parallel across the cooler and tied the extra ends together so it acted like a handle.  (Buckle them down first, then tie a knot on each so they can't move, then tie the two ends together to form a handle).  I really didn't want the baggage guys picking the cooler up by the normal handles.  They might break off with the weight!  Keep an eye on the weight and keep is just under the weight limit per bag.  Otherwise you'll pay even more.

One friend of mine had his luggage lost on the way home (the cooler).  It showed up at his house three days later and 98% of the fish was still frozen solid.   This was in July!, god knows where the cooler sat for three days.  I envision a hot warehouse.  He said only the top couple pieces had thawed and even then still half frozen.  He ate those first!

In terns of what to keep...don't bother with ANY of the cod.  It's really nasty.  Seriously, it’s fishy and rubbery.  Let other people on the boat take it.  It’s nothing like the cod you get at the store or fishing on the East coast.  The halibut is excellent!  The salmon is very good as well, but I always felt it didn’t hold up in the freezer as well as halibut.  So only bring enough salmon for what you can eat within a month or give away.

Answer 4

Pack light buy a cooler, hard freeze fish pack in dry ice and take home on plane as extra luggage...most planes are now charging per bag so expect 50 -60 bucks.

Plenty of shipping companies around every marina.