My wife and I visited Seattle earlier this month and we visited the Pike Place Fish Market multiple times - also stopping to observe the Pike Place Fish Company near the entrance to the market and watch it in action. We enjoyed the fish throwing show like everyone else and we definitely thought it was a unique experience - even if perhaps a bit overrated. We watched the fish tossing multiple times over several days and we also engaged the fish mongers and chatted with them each time we stopped. An entertaining and fun experience each time - again, even if a bit overrated.
We'd been told each time we stopped, multiple ways and by multiple fish mongers in fact, that all the packing is absolutely "TSA Safe" and "TSA Approved" and that we'd have no problem whatsoever going through security and no problem at all with a packaged fish purchase as a carry on when flying back home to Houston.
So with that in mind, on our last day in Seattle, I bought approximately 2 pounds of Copper River King Salmon to take back home as a carry on. The salmon was wrapped, packaged, and perfectly sealed in a box with a reusable cold pack. The cost of the box was an extra five $5 dollars. We seemed to be all set.
Upon arrival at the airport, SEA-TAC, we checked our luggage and headed for security - TSA Pre-Check. When we reached the front of the line and went through final x-ray scanning/screening, I made it through fine, my carry on bag was fine, but I was informed the Pike Place Fish Market/Company box would have to be opened and manually screened - that in fact it wasn't TSA approved in the sense it wouldn't have to be opened and manually searched by TSA agents. Despite protesting this, letting them know exactly what I'd purchased, and advising the TSA agents the friendly Pike Place Fish Market/Company mongers had promised the box is TSA approved would be allowed through security without any problem, I lost the argument and was forced to let the TSA agents open the box and fully inspect all it's contents - including a poke and prod inspection of the $39.99 per pound salmon. Once inspected and obviously with no problems found, the TSA agents then re-packed everything and re-taped the box so we could continue on to catch our flight.
Due to the required TSA search, the integrity of the original packing was lost and we lost approximately 15-20 minutes while waiting on the TSA agents to execute the manual search. The TSA agents confirmed my search wasn't random and that all Pike Place Fish Market fish boxes like that are searched if taken through security - so in all fairness, this likely applies to all the fish vendors selling fish in the Pike Place Market - not just the Pike Place Fish Company. But the TSA agents advised the Pike Place Fish Market fish vendors know this, but they still tell all the tourists the fish packages/boxes are "TSA Safe, TSA Approved" and that there will be no problem carrying them through security and onto planes. This is in fact not true and not correct, leading me to believe the Pike Place Fish Market/Pike Place Fish Company and likely the other fish vendors as well are deliberately misleading tourists about this in an extreme effort to sell more fish. And unfortunately, it worked - had I known I'd be detained so my fish purchase could be unwrapped and manually inspected by TSA agents, I probably wouldn't have made the purchase at all.
So please don't be fooled like I was - any Pike Place Fish Market/Company fish purchase won't make it through security and TSA will require you to submit to it being opened, manually searched, and re-packaged. Is it really worth that much trouble - I doubt it.
