Hawaii residents not lucky enough to already have purchased a Christmas tree may find they will celebrate the holiday without one.  Local media outlets are reporting that Christmas tree vendors have sold out of their stock and are unsure whether additional trees could make it to the islands in time for Christmas.

Officials at the state agricultural department say 207 shipping containers of Christmas trees were brought into the islands this year.  However, at least seven containers were returned to the mainland after inspectors found the trees infested with slugs and yellow jackets.

Additionally, this year’s shipment of Christmas trees to Hawaii was smaller.  According to state agriculture department employee Domingo Cravalho, in 2008 it was “maybe 250 containers, previous to that close to 300 containers.”

While there is still a small amount of trees available, they are the more expensive and larger ones.  A 10-foot Noble fir has a price tag of $180 or more in some places. 

Richard Tajiri, president of Christmas Hawaii, said he is investigating the possibility of shipping in another container from the Pacific Northwest to satisfy some of the remaining demand.  He sold out of trees at his Ala Moana Center lot on December 11.

Tajiri has been bringing Christmas trees to Hawaii for 34 years.  "We're trying to see if we can get some more in," he says.  If he were to successfully get a container on a Hawaii-bound ship by Wednesday, it would arrive barely in time - just four days before Christmas.

Another feared shortage, however, has likely been averted.

The custom of eating tuna at the beginning of the year dates to early Japanese immigrants, for whom eating sea bream at New Year's was good luck. Because sea bream isn't found in Hawaii waters, the new immigrants ate tuna instead. The ritual has since spread among Hawaii's various ethnic groups, and the tradition is celebrated statewide.

Officials earlier this year estimated the Hawaii-based longline fishing fleet would hit its annual bigeye tuna catch limit for waters west of the islands around the end of November. This would have deprived the Hawaii market of its favorite fresh-caught tuna just as demand peaks for the year-end holiday.

The National Marine Fisheries Service now believes the boats will reach their limit sometime after Dec. 20, allowing the fleet to deliver bigeye through December 31.