Collecting in the Bahamas

[Tang Salad]

Does anyone know the laws regarding collecting of marine life in the Bahamas? I seem to remember that taking any live rock or other substrate is illegal, but I'm not certain.

I'm interested in collecting invertabrates, especially Zoanthids, Palythoa and possibly some Gorgonians, all in very small quantities.

Many Thanks~
Ts

 

[nanO352]

I know that in Florida they collecting limits are quite strict. But i'm not to sure about the Bahama's.

 

[Tang Salad]

Thanks Nan.

Anyone else?

 

[Roy G. Biv]

I dont know if its legal but when I come home, I have water bottles full of blue leg hermits.

 

[macronut]

Not sure about the bahama's, but I think you would need a collection permit. I wouldn't want to get caught in customs with no legal paperwork for you new prized possessions.

 

[Tang Salad]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269316#post12269316 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macronut
I wouldn't want to get caught in customs with no legal paperwork for you new prized possessions.

I'll be returning on a private boat so won't need to pass through the official customs. I'm wondering more about the Bahamas' side of it.

 

[Tang Salad]

Well, I just found this:

Miami - R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, announced today that defendant Lawrence W. Beckman, 57, of Lake Park, Florida, was sentenced in federal District Court in West Palm Beach in connection with his illegal importation of approximately 500 pounds of live rock, coral, and sea fans illegally harvested from Bahamian waters. United States District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra, sentenced Beckman to three months in federal custody, followed by a two year term of supervised release. In addition, the Court ordered Beckman to pay a criminal fine of $2,000.Beckman had pled guilty in October to failing to obtain written permission from Bahamian authorities, as required by Bahamian conservation laws, to harvest hard and soft coral species within the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, all in violation of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372 and 3373.

From The Coastguard News
500 pounds is a lot! What a jerk! Still, it looks like I'll need permission from the Minister of Fisheries.

That sounds easy enough...:lol:

 

[cre8or23]

Hey sounds like all you need is a license to proceed....i'm not a lawyer don't take my advice..contact the local Chamber of Commerce first...

 

[Tang Salad]

I think I just need permission from the Minister of Fisheries.

My question now is how to best word the email to them to increase my chances of getting permission.

 

[widmer]

Don't tell them that you want to add them to your tang salad.

 

[Tang Salad]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269809#post12269809 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by widmer
Don't tell them that you want to add them to your tang salad.

Zoanthids in a salad??? Now that's just crazy!

 

[DougBushBC]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269527#post12269527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tang Salad
Well, I just found this:

From The Coastguard News
500 pounds is a lot! What a jerk! Still, it looks like I'll need permission from the Minister of Fisheries.

That sounds easy enough...:lol:

I live in the area here. That person was the owner of a LFS here. Big hub-hub in the aquarium community here. Taking from the bahamas is a HUGE no-no.

 

[Tang Salad]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12270436#post12270436 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DougBushBC
I live in the area here. That person was the owner of a LFS here. Big hub-hub in the aquarium community here. Taking from the bahamas is a HUGE no-no.

I've written to request permission, and if I don't get it, I won't take anything.

Oh, and the WPB area is where we'll be leaving from. Actually, north of there in Stuart.

 

[greenbean36191]

If you're sailing back through Florida waters you also have to comply with FL and US collection and importation laws since without a purchase receipt the assumption is that you collected in US waters.

That means you'll need a FL SW fishing license and can only take species that are legal in FL water. Some gorgonians (G. ventalina and G. flabellum) are protected in FL and they look a lot like non-protected species, so I would be extra careful about which gorgonians you collect.

I'm not sure about traveling by sea, but if you bring animals back by air you have to have forms from either the USDA or FWS and come through a designated port of entry (Miami). I'd call them and ask what's required for bringing things back by sea.

Also, you'll probably have more luck finding zoas in the marina on the FL side than in the Bahamas. I used to work over there and was in the water almost everyday and I can't recall ever seeing any zoanthid colonies that were big or dense enough to collect. Certainly none that were very colorful. Just a few drab, scattered polyps.

 

[Tang Salad]

Thanks Greenbean,

I will have a FL SW license. I won't touch any gorgonians; thanks for the heads up on that.

On my last trip snorkeling in the Bahamas I could only go to sheltered reef areas; lower flow, higher sediment. There were more gorgonians than anything, but on the ocean-facing sides were some assorted reef building corals, and some Palythoa. I saw no Zoanthids.

This time we'll have more mobility and be able to check out more different reef areas, and hopefully see more variety.

 

[Tang Salad]

And the letter I received in reply:

Dear Mr Myname,

Please be advised that it is illegal to export corals from The Bahamas. Your requset has therefore been denied.

Oh well...