Question by CliffS: When departing Hawaii for Alaska, can you bring home plants and fruits in your luggage?
I understand that there are restrictions for bringing plants and fruit to the mainland, but what about direct flights to Alaska? Alaska doesn’t have a multi-million dollar agricultural industry to protect, nor is it likely these pests will survive in this cold climate.
Best answer:
Answer by Patriotgal
No, you can’t do it. I had an apple in my luggage for a snack on the airplane and they picked it up on the scanner and made me get rid of it. The reason for this is there is a big fruit fly infestation problem in Hawaii. They can’t control it. They are trying to keep it from spreading beyond Hawaii. Yes, even in Alaska, you have fruit flies.
Attached below is an article about the fruit fly infestation and the measures to try to control it. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“Because Hawaii has been infested since the late 1800s by a variety of exotic fruit flies, including medfly, melon fly, oriental fruit fly, and Malaysian fruit fly, the islands are an ideal location for developing and testing control methods. There is no chance of further spread and there are lots of fruit flies to control.”
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Any flights departing for destinations outside the state, you have to have an agricultural inspection before you check your baggage in to the airline. And they are picky about this. I once got my luggage scanned at the international terminal on the way to my terminal because there was no waiting, and they made me go to one of the stations in my terminal and have it scanned again.
Now, you can buy pineapple at or near the airport that has already been inspected, or at least you could while Maui Land & Pineapple was still in operation last year. A much smaller group has taken over the cultivation of pineapple on Maui, but whether they are big enough to supply the airport gift shops is something I don’t know.
There is no fruit fly infestation in Hawaii–our fruit flies are non-reproducing. There are other bugs though and you generally can’t take anything out of the state unless it has been cleared (pineapples and papayas are available at the airport for purchase). We don’t allow similar items INTO Hawaii either.
Absolutely not allowed. At the airport in Hawaii, every single bag is scanned upon entry for this purpose alone. The bags are scanned a second time for security reasons. Think about all the pests/ diseases that have been transferred from country to the next. Asian beetles are killing off many healthy trees in the U.S. and beyond. Of course, this is just one example.
No, you cannot bring home plants from Hawaii. You can buy boxes of Hawaiian Pineapple and Papaya. It is very yummy.
hmm..im not very sure.
see, my dad had an entire pineapple, prickly and all, and a papaya in his suitcase. just sitting in there. and they took away the papaya, but let the pineapple go. it was very weird, but then again we were at LAX.