Collecting from the wild

[crabbejoe]

So what are people's thoughts on collecting from the wild? It's easy to say, "That's wrong!" But really, if you're just going for a walk on the beach, and pick up a hermit crab to take home, that's collecting from the wild!
In florida its legal to collect most soft corals like zoas and rics.
I personally don't think there's anything wrong with it if the collector can do it responsibly. Taking a couple polyps off a colony won't hurt things. Taking the WHOLE colony might!
Thoughts, comments?

 

[rydr119]

I agree, I also live in S.FL and I go to the beach all the time and see people catching things and taking them home. I have some Zoas my brother collected off of a local pier, I think you can take a certain number of polyps if I'm not mistaken but you cannot take the LR. Which if you think about it how else are you gonna get zoas and rics with out taking the rock? You should need a permit like for hunting and maybe a season like they have for lobstering.

 

[seapug]

Taking a hermit crab from a beach is one thing, but hoarding them by the bucketful and reselling them is another. Check the local laws where you will be collecting. There are restrictions on how much of what can be collected and where. For example, US laws restrict collection of Ricordeas from Florida based on the size of the substrate that is removed to collect them (1" max). Even then, special permits are likely required.

If you are out of the country you need to deal with local laws, then laws about taking them out of the country and laws about bringing them into another. It gets complicated.

 

[IslandCrow]

I support collecting from the wild as long as it's done responsibly (and legally, of course). Think about what happens before a fish or coral makes it to your LFS. It's generally been collected from some other area overseas where there are few or no laws governing collection. The exact collection methods are generally unknown. Those animals are then shipped back to the States, and a certain percentage will die in transit. They'll usually then sit at a wholesaler where a few more will die, before they're shipped to another LFS where yet more will die in transit. As you all know, there are quite a few stores who provide a less than desireable environment for their livestock, so, you guessed it. . .more deaths.

Or, I can capture a couple fish or corals from the wild and have a very low mortality rate, meaning overall less is taken from our waters as a whole. Local laws and regulations will additionally mitigate any damage we may be doing by limiting how much is taken. If the population of a species is being adversely affected, it restrictions will simply increase.

So, go for it. Collect from the wild, but check your local laws and regulations first. Bring your fish and corals back to a healthy tank and enjoy. Make sure you quarantine.

 

[IslandCrow]

For most soft corals and fish, all you need to collect in Florida is a saltwater fishing license. There are of course limits as to what you can take. I don't know the specific limits off the top of my head. All in all, I think it's managed rather well. And yes, you are allowed to remove some of the substrate with the coral. There is a specific amount, but as long as you don't take a ridiculous amount, no one's going to say anything.

 

[rydr119]

I hate to think of how they collect corals and fish from other parts of the world where all they care about is the bottom line. The problem is money drives these markets and everyone know that some people will do anything for ca$h. Plus if you collect something on your own it makes it that much more valuable to you. You tend to take more pride and care in what you were able to find and nurture. This is why aquaculture is so important in this hobby. If they could start farming tangs, and angels, and all the difficult fish to collect or the very limited fish out there, then the natural populations would be less at risk for depletion.

 

[crabbejoe]

So maybe we as hobbyists should be doing MORE collecting!? It is the hobbyist who loves and cares for these animals and would collect responsibly. And once we get it into our systems, we frag them and trade with other hobbyists, decreasing the need for money driven companies to collect from the wild.

 

[seapug]

well, most corals are found in areas away from the shore at depths most typical beachcombers can't really access....not to mention most of the ones we keep in our tanks come from the other side of the world.

 

[MinibowMatt]

Its like allowing shoplifting....
Just because you only take what you need, and know that the store isnt going to miss the $xx.xx from your "theft" doesnt mean it ok.
The next guy may not be as conscientious as you were. He may rob the store blind because there wasnt a rule in place to stop him


My point being, 80% of the people are in it for the money... If they werent, we would have the animals we have....

The rules are there for a reason..

 

[blackthunda77]

I collect legally sometimes from the beach or while snorkeling, i live in s. florida. you have to have a fishing license and abide by the laws. i see no problem with it. i NEVER hoarded anything and tried to resell them, everything that i collected went into my tank. i still hve zoos and gorgonians, even a couple fish that got mytank started 7 yrs ago which were collected locally.

 

[D to the P]

I think if people are going to keep saltwater tanks than you are going to have to collect from the wild because there aren't a lot of fish/inverts that spawn easily in captivity. It needs to be done with caution though and that is where the problem comes in. Lets say you see no reason not to take one or two small tangs from the water (or any other herbivorous fish for that matter), if everyone had this mentality than algae would start to take over and cover any corals that might be near by. And I'm not overstating that, it is happening in many reefs right now, although the local people catching the fish aren't putting them in aquariums they are putting them in their tummies. (fishing down the food chain is a topic for another thread on another forum, not reef discussion). I don't see much wrong with taking a few zoos or ricordea from a pear every now and then, but we must make sure we abide by laws and don't just start hauling off rocks of the stuff. The real problem comes in where catching wild fish/corals is a way of life for certain people in very poor countries. That is why some of them use cyanide or dynomite, its effective, no one is really stoping them, and it might be the only way that family gets any money so they can eat. Also, it becomes a problem of property. If we were sending fleets of boats out to the red sea to cherry pick some corals so we could sell them to people with reef tanks, than problems would come arise like whose property is the reef, and should it belong to the country it is closest too (hence why international fleets of ships aren't allowed to fish within a certain distance of American waters). What it comes down to is we need to make sure we aren't taking more than we really need. Although reef keeping isn't a great money making business (why there are no funds to do research regarding things that would benefit people with saltwater aquariums), we need to invest time into figuring out ways to farm these fish and inverts like we do with most freshwater fish. Coral propogation is taking off, and I think invert and fish farming should have a focus too. No matter how little we think we are effecting the populations.