Found Some Interesting Information About Collecting in Florida

[liverock]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9945644#post9945644 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RicksReefs
no Scleractinian (stony) corals, but Octocorallia (gorgs, etc) and Cnidaria (mushrooms, anemones, zoanthids, etc) are in the restricted species and collectable (except seafans).

Prohibited Species: All harvest is prohibited of the following species:
Live rock, Bahama starfish (Oreaster reticulatis), longspine urchin (Diadema antillarum), Venus sea fan (Gorgonia flabellum), common sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina), any hard or stony coral (Order Scleractinia), or any fire coral (Genus Millepora).

Octocorals ,<gorgonians>, are not hard corals, and some species can be collected.

Richard TBS

 

[chrisaggie]

Thank Rick, I knew you would chime in.

 

[chrisaggie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9945660#post9945660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by liverock
Prohibited Species: All harvest is prohibited of the following species:
Live rock, Bahama starfish (Oreaster reticulatis), longspine urchin (Diadema antillarum), Venus sea fan (Gorgonia flabellum), common sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina), any hard or stony coral (Order Scleractinia), or any fire coral (Genus Millepora).

Octocorals ,<gorgonians>, are not hard corals, and some species can be collected.

Richard TBS

Octocorals may not be hard coral but they are still coral none the less. It is not true to say all coral can not be collected.

 

[tperk9784]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9945644#post9945644 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RicksReefs
no Scleractinian (stony) corals, but Octocorallia (gorgs, etc) and Cnidaria (mushrooms, anemones, zoanthids, etc) are in the restricted species and collectable (except seafans).

Rick I went to your website but a lot of pics are not working for me.

I tried to PM you but your box is full.

 

[RicksReefs]

I'm going thru an overhaul, both on the web and in RL, I'm hoping to be back up soon..

 

[liverock]

Almost

Almost

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9945690#post9945690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisaggie
Octocorals may not be hard coral but they are still coral none the less. It is not true to say all coral can not be collected.

Very true, but they are octocorals, not corals as described in the rulebook.

RC is a source of information, and saying it is ok to collect some "corals", is going to get some guy from Ohio in a heap of trouble in the Keys, when he has read it is ok to collect some "corals"

I was simply trying to inform folks of the terminology when trying to intemperate the rules and regulations of the state of Florida.

When one speaks of "corals" the state interperates that as

any hard or stony coral (Order Scleractinia)

and when speaking of octocorals, Venus sea fan (Gorgonia flabellum), common sea fan (Gorgonia octocoral, described in the rulebook as, octocorals.

Terminology is the key here, the correct description and knowledge will keep you out of the pokey!

Richard TBS

 

[ReefWreak]

So don't touch it if it has a calcerous skeleton or is a seafan, to be on the safe side?

 

[RicksReefs]

yup, AND if you collect zoas, etc, make sure they stay together. your allowed 6 colonies/animals and if one falls apart, you've just exceeded the limit.

 

[ReefWreak]

So you can collect up to 6 individual zoa polyps, or 6 together colonies? That's what I was wondering about. People keep telling me about these FL-only Blue Zoanthids, I want some at some point...

 

[RicksReefs]

as long as they're still connected, they're considered one animal (colonial), if you have 6 loose polyps, that's the limit. also take into account that you can't take any hard substrate with them, so they can fall apart quite easily after being scraped off a rock.

 

[jeffbrig]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9945593#post9945593 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisaggie
Seems like there is a lot of confusion about collection laws. Maybe a good topic for a monthly meeting. Hmmm.

I'm not sure I agree.

Sure, there's lots of confusion, but are our local reefs best served by educating everyone on how to go out and take whatever they can? I tend to err more on the side of conservation, and would actually prefer if most people thought corals were off limits.

 

[chrisaggie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9947826#post9947826 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffbrig
I'm not sure I agree.

Sure, there's lots of confusion, but are our local reefs best served by educating everyone on how to go out and take whatever they can? I tend to err more on the side of conservation, and would actually prefer if most people thought corals were off limits.

I see your point Jeff and to some point agree. Its the people that are taking illegal coral/livestock ,that may or may not know it, that I'm concerned about. We are all here to learn and this is a subject that everyone could brush up on. Personally I wish harvesting of all coral was illegal, but that's not the case. The club has historically been a group of collectors and we should at least revisit the subject from time to time.

 

[liverock]

consevation

consevation

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9947976#post9947976 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisaggie
I see your point Jeff and to some point agree. Its the people that are taking illegal coral/livestock ,that may or may not know it, that I'm concerned about. We are all here to learn and this is a subject that everyone could brush up on. Personally I wish harvesting of all coral was illegal, but that's not the case. The club has historically been a group of collectors and we should at least revisit the subject from time to time.

I have to agree with that also...harvesting octocorals should be limited more than it already is......I think the magic number is 80,000 per year before it closes, but the season has never been closed before, as far as I know.

The abuse comes from collectors who start on one end of a reef, and take every legal octocoral that exists there. I think that practice is not sustainable, and should somehow be regulated, but it is not, just as like catching every legal sized grouper from a ledge is legal, but there should be more conservation minded practices in place.

Richard TBS

 

[RicksReefs]

agreed, and is the reason why I'll never respond to a "where do I collect.." thread.
can you imagine how long those blue zoas would last if a location was put on the web? they'd be gone by lunchtime.

 

[liverock]

gone!

gone!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9948113#post9948113 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RicksReefs
agreed, and is the reason why I'll never respond to a "where do I collect.." thread.
can you imagine how long those blue zoas would last if a location was put on the web? they'd be gone by lunchtime.

Yup

just like the millions upon millions of blue legs that USED to be at Spanish Harbor, I collected there for years, somebody put it on the net and it was WIPED out, where there were millions, there is not one now.

Richard TBS

 

[lisaFL]

Good Info!

Thank You Richard from TBS for chiming in on this!

 

[tperk9784]

I also believe that harsher punishments should be handed out for those who are caught to make tohers think twice before doing it again.

I remember a year or two ago a guy was busted with live rock here locally in Palm beach county he was fined and released.

Turns out he owned an LFS

I searched the web but cant find the articles.

 

[RicksReefs]

ya, and if you go to his store 80% of his stuff is local, hmmmm...

BTW, that was the 14th time he got caught... he just giggled.

his business should be confiscated and he shouldn't be allowed near the water again, along with not seeing daylight for many years.

 

[DaveBien]

Since I'm an Illinois resident I need a SW license to collect. I was only thinking of zoos (6) anyway. That or I throw my daughter, who lives in Boca, into the water in July. Think I got it now.

PS: Just to throw a monkey wrench into this fray.... are loose rock/stones which may be covered in Zoos, etc, considered "live rock" or is it just parts of the reef structure?

 

[chrisaggie]

You may take a SMALL amount of rock with octocoral (check regs before doing so), but not with zoanthids. It would still be considered live rock.