I get where you’re coming from, but importation of biological material is the real stuff we should actually want Customs to care about, in all countries, for travelers going in every direction. As noted above, Customs needs to confirm that the imported frozen fish aren’t endangered, that they’re not subject to import restrictions, that they’re not prone to carry diseases/parasites, etc.
I think he made two mistakes.
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When asked what it was, he said “flesh”. Importation of meat is heavily restricted. If he had simply said “fish,” he might have been ok, except…
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He brought a lot of it. The Customs rule for importation of fish vaguely mutters about allowing “personal amounts.” And in fact, he’s importing these for business purposes, and his occupation is chef. So then they have to figure out what constitutes a “personal amount” of fish, what rules apply if it’s a non-personal amount, if import fees are required, and what the commercial value of piranhas is. Maybe it’s an FDA matter at that point.
You can buy a baby Black Piranha on the internet for $50, based on the first result of my google search. A full grown Black Piranha costs $1200. Of course those prices are for live fish. If Customs decided the commercial value really was $1200/fish, he could have been liable for import fees on $48,000.
It’s a brainer that probably required a lot of people to do a lot of calling around and searching archaic computer systems and giant books of regulations. And of course everyone is really under the gun, because those fish are thawing and the last thing anyone wants is 40 thawed fish in their office with fish juice running everywhere.
