Getting fish though tsa

[AnotherHumanPerson]

I’m going on a vacation to Seattle soon and I plan to go the co op. I am considering getting fish, but I am concerned about getting the fish through the airport security. On the tsa website, it said that wether or not you can have fish is up to the agent. Does anyone have any experience dealing with this?

[ScottieB]

I just flew fish home from the American cichlid assoc meeting. Long story short, it was no problem for me to carry them on. I rebagged all my small fish into breather bags from Aquatic Arts (search on Amazon). Before putting everything on the belt I informed the TSA agent that I had live fish. He took it aside, swabbed it and handed it back. I kept them under the seat in front on me, flew southwest. All 18 fish made it home safe. 
 

My suggestion would include: breather bags, they allow small volumes of water with no air in it. Stick to small fish, ones that would be fine in 3-4 oz of water, bag them separately. Keep all the bags together in an easily  accessible shopping bag or something so TSA can see them. Be really polite to the TSA agents. I was in TSA pre check but not sure that helps. Maybe get there early so in the unlikely even you get turned away leave your self time and money to run to FedEx. 

Hope that helps! 
Have a great time visiting the Coop!