Fish get shipped to the chain stores yes, but not to customers like us. And can you imagain how much money you would have to pay for such packaging?
A lot of online stores will not ship past a certain date due to weather conditions, because they can not guarantee them.
And I personally don't order any livestock during the winter time.
You should really check out your area for fish clubs. They normallly meet every Sunday and usually have a fish auction before every meeting. Great place to get some good fish that are cheap.