Caught taking corals

[nyvp]

The Associated Press


January 18. 2007 8:07PM
Font Size: A man was arrested Thursday after about 350 pounds of coral and rocks were found on his boat during a routine safety inspection, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

Alain Salermo, 37, was arrested and charged with harvesting/possession of live rock after more than 80 rocks were found on his boat in a Key Biscayne marina, said Officer Jorge Pino, a commission spokesman.

It is illegal to stand on or touch any live or dead coral, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

"It's not common for us to find an individual that has an excess of 300 pounds of live rock in its possession, that's not very common," Pino said. "We do come across some individuals that possess this, but certainly not 300 pounds."

The coral and rocks, which are home to live organisms, are valuable worldwide and could be sold illegally for as much as $10 a pound, Pino said.

Salermo was in jail. His bond was set at $500. The name of his attorney was not immediately known.

 

[serkel]

sorry but good for him. Don't just go out and destroy your reefs

 

[dobly_1999]

What he will pay in attorney fee, court cost, bond and lost of hours at work, he could have purchase the rock legally.

 

[chrisaggie]

Unfortunately taking illegal rock and coral are not as uncommon as we would like to think. I personally know of many club members that have done so.

 

[lessthanlights]

Re: Caught taking corals

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9050943#post9050943 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nyvp


It is illegal to stand on or touch any live or dead coral, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

Not true- with a regular saltwater FL fishing licence you may harvest many coral that are not attached to rock.

 

[chrisaggie]

Re: Re: Caught taking corals

Re: Re: Caught taking corals

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9051297#post9051297 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lessthanlights
Not true- with a regular saltwater FL fishing licence you may harvest many coral that are not attached to rock.

Actually with a saltwater fishing license you may harvest many (please make sure you know those that are illegal from legal) coral that are attached to rock also. Some you must remove from the rock and some you can take a very small peice of rock with.

 

[loyalrogue]

Re: Re: Re: Caught taking corals

Re: Re: Re: Caught taking corals

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9051312#post9051312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisaggie
Actually with a saltwater fishing license you may harvest many (please make sure you know those that are illegal from legal) coral that are attached to rock also. Some you must remove from the rock and some you can take a very small peice of rock with.

Really?
That's interesting.
I've always been under the assumption that all of our corals and rock were protected, period.

Do you have, or do you know where I could find, a list of corals or more info on this?

 

[lessthanlights]

here are a few links- there are quite a few threads about the topic too. check in the scuba forums

http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/recharvestmls.htm

http://mtfb.com/tbas1/IFoughtTheLaw.html

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=975414

 

[r00onmac]

generally, the rule is no hard corals... so if you stumble into a huge patch of ricordia and you have a saltwater license - chop away and rush home to put them in the tank... just leave the rocks behind..

 

[Ludwigia73]

rOOonmac got it... leave the rocks behind. Gorgonians and zoos are alright, too... Anything hard is a complete no-go. Agree with Chris, too... I know of a few people in the club that have taken hard corals... I'm not one to turn them in, but I don't support them either.

 

[firewill65]

Someone should have shown him the do-it-yourself recipe!

 

[REDDAWG43]

Hey Ludwigia...
I see you are already planning on how to stock your next tank...lol