Bluefields Aquatics is a marine fish exporter based on the Indian Ocean coast at Mtwapa, Mombasa, Kenya. We collect, condition, pack and ship marine ornamental fish to aquarium importers, wholesalers, public aquariums and retail chains in more than 67 countries. As a licensed exporter operating from source, we control every stage from the reef to the aircraft, which is how we hold dead-on-arrival (DOA) rates consistently below 2% on international shipments. This page explains exactly how a professional marine fish export operation works, what we ship, how it travels, and what you as an importer need in place to receive it.
Choosing a marine fish exporter is one of the most important decisions an aquarium business makes. The right exporter delivers healthy, well-conditioned fish on time, with paperwork that clears customs cleanly and a survival rate that protects your margin. The wrong one ties up your money in dead fish and customs problems. Everything below is written to help you judge any exporter — including us — on the things that actually matter.
Our marine fish export process
Marine fish export is a chain, and every link must hold for fish to arrive alive. Our process runs in five stages, each designed to reduce stress and protect health.
1. Sustainable hand collection
Every fish begins with our divers, who hand-net each specimen on the reefs of the western Indian Ocean using traditional, non-destructive methods. We never use chemicals. A fish caught gently, brought up slowly and rested before transport is a fish that travels well — and it keeps the reef productive for future seasons. You can read more on our sustainable collection guide.
2. Conditioning and quarantine
Newly collected fish are not shipped immediately. They enter our holding systems, where they are settled, observed for feeding and screened for disease. A fish that refuses food or shows early signs of infection never enters a shipment. This patience is the single most underrated factor in low DOA, and it is the foundation of our reputation. Our facility runs strict biosecurity to keep pathogen pressure low across all holding systems.
3. Purging and conditioning before packing
In the 24 to 48 hours before packing, fish are fasted so their guts are empty. An empty gut produces far less ammonia in a sealed bag, and ammonia build-up is one of the principal killers in transit. This is detailed in our DOA prevention guide.
4. Professional packing
Each fish is bagged in clean, temperature-matched saltwater, charged with pure oxygen, and packed into insulated polystyrene boxes. Spiny species are double or triple bagged. The water-to-oxygen ratio and insulation are tuned to the species and the exact transit time of your route. See our packing standards and oxygen bagging guide.
5. Routing and documentation
We plan each shipment for the shortest reliable air route from Mombasa (MBA) or Nairobi (NBO) to your airport, and prepare the full paperwork set — CITES where required, KEPHIS health certification, and commercial documents — before the box ships.
Marine fish species we export
We list over 250 marine ornamental species across 19 categories, collected from the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. Our range spans every group an importer needs to fill a box:
- Tangs & surgeonfish — including the prized Powder Blue Tang and Blue Tang. See our tang buyer guide.
- Angelfish — from dwarf Centropyge to large Pomacanthus species.
- Wrasses — budget cleaners through premium fairy and flasher wrasses; see the wrasse buyer guide.
- Butterflyfish, damsels, clownfish, triggers, puffers, gobies, blennies, eels such as the Blue Ribbon Eel, and invertebrates.
Browse the complete species index or request our weekly stocklist for current availability and sizes.
How we ship marine fish internationally
Marine fish travel by air freight, and the route matters as much as the packing. A perfectly packed fish can still be lost if its box sits in transit for an extra day. We ship from two Kenyan gateways: Moi International in Mombasa (MBA), closest to our facility, and Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi (NBO), which offers broader long-haul connectivity. For each shipment we choose whichever delivers the shortest total transit to your airport.
European and Gulf destinations are often reachable on a single connection; Asian and American destinations may need more. We provide tracking and documents in advance so you can pre-clear customs and be ready to collect the box the moment it lands. Full detail is in our airline routing guide and our international shipping page.
What importers need to buy from us
Importing live marine fish is straightforward once you have a few things in place. Here is what we expect of a new buyer, and what we handle for you.
On your side: know your country’s import requirements before ordering — some require an import permit or pre-notification, and many first-time importers use a customs broker experienced in live animals. You should have a quarantine system ready and the ability to clear customs and collect shipments promptly. Marine fish ship by air freight charged by weight and volume, so there is usually a minimum order — often a half or full box — that makes a shipment economical.
On our side: we identify any CITES-listed items on your order, secure the export permits, prepare KEPHIS health certification and commercial documents, and pack and route the shipment for your specific airport. Our guides on how stores import, CITES and your first order walk through the whole flow.
Why choose Bluefields as your marine fish exporter
We are a working exporter, not a broker. We collect our own fish, hold them in our own systems, and pack them with our own team, which means we can answer any question about a fish’s history in specific terms. We export from source, so fish reach you fresher and on shorter routes. And we treat sub-2% DOA as a standard rather than a marketing line — every shipment is logged, every loss reviewed, and our packing adjusted continuously against real arrival data.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Bluefields Aquatics based?
We are based at Mtwapa, Mombasa, on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, and export through Mombasa (MBA) and Nairobi (NBO) airports to more than 67 countries.
What is your DOA rate?
We hold dead-on-arrival rates below 2% on most shipments, through hand collection, careful conditioning, pure-oxygen packing and short, planned air routes.
What is the minimum order?
Because fish ship by air freight charged by weight and volume, there is usually a minimum of a half or full box. We help you plan an order that fills a box economically.
Do you handle the export paperwork?
Yes. We prepare CITES permits where required, KEPHIS health certification and commercial documents for every shipment. You are responsible for meeting your own country’s import requirements.
Where our marine fish are collected
The quality and diversity of a marine fish exporter’s catalogue is determined by where it collects. Bluefields draws from the reefs of the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, two of the richest marine ornamental regions in the world. The western Indian Ocean coast of Kenya produces a constant supply of angelfish, tangs, wrasses, butterflyfish, damsels and invertebrates, many in colour forms that buyers in distant markets rarely see. Because we are based directly on this coast, we ship from source: the time between a fish leaving the reef and entering our holding systems is short, and the time between our systems and the aircraft is short too. Every hour saved is an hour of stress the fish does not carry. This geographic position is a structural advantage that exporters working far from their collection grounds simply cannot match, and it compounds with our packing and routing to produce consistently low losses. Our regional pages explain each source in detail — the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea — and our Mombasa operation page describes the facility itself.
Markets and buyers we serve
We export to more than 67 countries, and our buyers span the full range of the aquarium trade. Aquarium retailers and local fish stores import direct to improve margins and offer fresher stock than their domestic wholesalers. Wholesalers and distributors buy in volume to supply their own networks. Public aquariums and zoos source specialty and display species, often requiring particular sizes and careful handling. Each buyer type has different needs, and we scale order size, species mix and packing accordingly. European importers in markets such as Germany and the Netherlands are served on short single-connection routes; Gulf and Asian buyers in Japan, Singapore and Taiwan connect through efficient hubs. Whatever your market, we plan the shipment around your destination.
Quality control and the sub-2% DOA standard
Low dead-on-arrival rates do not happen by accident; they are the output of a feedback loop. Every shipment we send is logged, every loss is reviewed against the packing and routing used, and the lessons feed straight back into how we condition and pack the next box. Over years of exporting, this discipline has let us treat sub-2% DOA as a baseline rather than a best case. When you evaluate any marine fish exporter, ask whether they track arrival data this way — an exporter who cannot tell you their DOA rate, or who has no process for learning from losses, is asking you to absorb the risk on their behalf. Our entire operation, from the patience of our conditioning to the precision of our packing, exists to keep that number low so that your landed cost stays low.