Hello everyone and thanks for visiting our website! During these trying times we are doing our best to keep operating as normally as possible. Our biggest issue has just been to keep the shelves and tanks stocked. Things have improved somewhat over the past several weeks but the supply chain is still experiencing severe issues to say the least. As you may know 90% of the fish we sell are imports and are transported in the bellies of passenger planes. Obviously there aren't a lot of planes flying so that cargo space is at a premium. In addition since the vendors can't get a lot of product through, they are concentrating on smaller specimens and  "bread and butter" stuff meaning that oddballs and larger specimens are super tough to get. In the past couple weeks things seem to have improved a bit. Unfortunately this also means that since the airlines are losing so much money on passenger bookings, they have jacked the freight rates sky high. The cost of fish themselves has gone up, but the cost of transport has tripled or more, hence we are seeing dramatic increases in the price of fish in addition to the lack of availability.  We are doing our best to keep prices in check and have lowered our margins considerably to help keep "sticker shock" down.

 

We are also seeing a lot of issues with attaining dry stock items. Many vendors are having issues getting product into the country and we have seen many lines all but vanish. One of the biggest issues right now is tanks themselves. Aqueon, the biggest manufacturer was already having supply issues prior to the pandemic and now there is a glass shortage, that we are told is due to so much of the available glass manufacturing being shifted to making vials for covid vaccine. Tanks are all but impossible to get. Demand is actually quite high for tanks and they just cant even come close to meeting the demand. Marineland has stopped manufacturing tanks period and Aqueon has suspended making many sizes and shapes of tanks and is currently not constructing large tanks at all at the present time.

 

Another interesting development recently is  the aquarium fishing industry in Hawaii has been dealt a death blow. Over the past few years their department of fish and game has reduced quotas and limited the methods fish can be captured. Now the state has decided that when the current fishing licenses expire, they WILL NOT be renewed. What this means to us is species like yellow , naso, and kole tangs, potters and flame angels and a host of other species are going to be slowly disappearing from the market as well as prices skyrocketing.  In a short time these species will all but vanish from the aquarium industry. PIJAC has been fighting these rule changes for years but they lost their final court appeal in December. Its a sad loss for all us fish heads.

 

I appreciate everyone's patience and support at the present time and we will get through all this together. Stay safe, stay healthy and take care of our wet pets!

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