Ornamental collecting?
- Thread starter Snooker00
- Start date
reelfreak
New member
I too find myself too busy while spearing/bugging....but off of the shore I have collected snails, crabs and a few fish.....
There are some soft corals and polyps here that I keep meaning to bring home but always forget to grab any. I want to start a native reef tank soon, and will spend more time collecting and less time shooting then I suppose....
There are some soft corals and polyps here that I keep meaning to bring home but always forget to grab any. I want to start a native reef tank soon, and will spend more time collecting and less time shooting then I suppose....
There're a few people in the Tampa club forum who have done their own collecting (some of them near you in the Sarasota area).
A good place to start is to be familiar with the regulations (and there are a lot of them in florida):
A bit easier read:
http://www.floridamarine.org/features/view_article.asp?id=23440
From the horses mouth:
http://myfwc.com/marine/regulation.htm
http://fac.dos.state.fl.us/faconline/chapter68.pdf (section 68B)
A good place to start is to be familiar with the regulations (and there are a lot of them in florida):
A bit easier read:
http://www.floridamarine.org/features/view_article.asp?id=23440
From the horses mouth:
http://myfwc.com/marine/regulation.htm
http://fac.dos.state.fl.us/faconline/chapter68.pdf (section 68B)
Glove
New member
luminary thats interesting.
I have seen the table from 'http://myfwc.com/marine/regulation.htm' before.
NAME MIN. SIZE LIMIT MAX. SIZE LIMIT
Gray angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚½ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
French angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚½ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Blue angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚¾ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Queen angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚¾ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Rock beauty angelfish 2 5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Butterflyfishes 1 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Gobies None 2ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Jawfishes None 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Porkfish 1 Ã"šÃ‚½Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ None
Spanish hogfish 2ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Cuban (spotfin) hogfish 3ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Its sad how you dont see any of those fish in those size ranges because so many have been taken. I mean to see one or two small angelfish in the keys is rare for me. All I see are the large ones.
I am sorta new to the whole thing, being certified in 98, but I cant imagine what the reefs looked like 50 years ago. My instructor has shown me pictures of abundant reef-life I am afraid we will never see again.
Its sorta the same for deep sea fishing. I often charter a boat just to catch one or two Dorado,Mahia,Dolphin... and the captain is always wanting to keep the other fishes we catch. I get dirty looks when I toss a 3 ft cuda back in.
lol
just an observation
"take only pictures, leave only bubbles"
its fitting
Leave the stuff in the ocean. There is plenty of aqua-farming going on.
I have seen the table from 'http://myfwc.com/marine/regulation.htm' before.
NAME MIN. SIZE LIMIT MAX. SIZE LIMIT
Gray angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚½ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
French angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚½ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Blue angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚¾ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Queen angelfish 1Ã"šÃ‚¾ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Rock beauty angelfish 2 5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Butterflyfishes 1 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Gobies None 2ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Jawfishes None 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Porkfish 1 Ã"šÃ‚½Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ None
Spanish hogfish 2ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Cuban (spotfin) hogfish 3ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ 8ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Its sad how you dont see any of those fish in those size ranges because so many have been taken. I mean to see one or two small angelfish in the keys is rare for me. All I see are the large ones.
I am sorta new to the whole thing, being certified in 98, but I cant imagine what the reefs looked like 50 years ago. My instructor has shown me pictures of abundant reef-life I am afraid we will never see again.
Its sorta the same for deep sea fishing. I often charter a boat just to catch one or two Dorado,Mahia,Dolphin... and the captain is always wanting to keep the other fishes we catch. I get dirty looks when I toss a 3 ft cuda back in.
lol
just an observation
"take only pictures, leave only bubbles"
its fitting
Leave the stuff in the ocean. There is plenty of aqua-farming going on.
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I got certified, oh sometime around 92 over in Palm Beach. When I go diving over there now, I can see a significant difference both in the amount of life and the health of the reef. Quite honestly, the vast majority of damage that I've seen over there was related to boaters and fishermen. Line all over the place, trash on the reefs...I haven't noticed much damage over there from collection. Not to say it doesn't happen, but Florida has been pretty strict about it's collection regulations for quite some time. There's not a lot of commercial collection done in Florida waters (that I know of at least).
I've never done any collecting of my own, but honestly I don't have much of a problem with it if it's done responsibly. However, I do agree that we should support aquaculturing as much as possible.
Snooker - Check out the Acros forum too, it's the Sarasota club that just formed a few months ago. Some of the people I've heard talk about collecting are probably more active in that one.
I've never done any collecting of my own, but honestly I don't have much of a problem with it if it's done responsibly. However, I do agree that we should support aquaculturing as much as possible.
Snooker - Check out the Acros forum too, it's the Sarasota club that just formed a few months ago. Some of the people I've heard talk about collecting are probably more active in that one.
Yes, I collect my own fish, plants, inverts and softies here in Florida. Mostly from the east coast, from the cape down to the Keys. In fact I'm headed to the Keys at the end of the month.
I know of very few people who have the skill to collect fish though. Is not that it's hard to do, it just takes some practice. Collecting the Ornamentals is not going to happen for the one time vacationer.
I know of very few people who have the skill to collect fish though. Is not that it's hard to do, it just takes some practice. Collecting the Ornamentals is not going to happen for the one time vacationer.
RandyStacyE
New member
I don't live in Florida but I have collected when on vacation. I always imagined the best way to safely collect fish would be to make a pyramid of PVC pipe. All you would need to do is weight it down, leave it for a while and use an appropriate diameter "plunger" of sorts to gently push on one end and a net on the other. I'm sure there are better and safer devices than a net, but that's what I envisioned.
I have collected emerald crabs, snails, 100s of pounds of reef sand, some purple anemone shrimp, coral banded shrimp, baby conch, sea mats, curlicue anemones, arrow crabs, eels, and some unidentified critters that came with some rock. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve found some amazing colored serpent stars, orange starfish, purple Gorgonian and a few other corals. The arrow crabs were evil and I had to donate them.
Amazingly I brought all of the above back home in Indiana by driving in the dead of winter! The stuff was sitting outside in the back of a pickup. This took some serious preparation. I used a Rubbermaid tote suspended inside of a cardboard box encapsulated in AB foam. Basically huge DIY coolers. I individually bagged everything and used newspaper and some heat packs. 2 days later the temp went down only a few degrees! I was shocked. From what I remember everything made it just perfectly accept for the Gorgonian. Gorgonian have always been difficult to transport. The coolest part about taking rock from the ocean is that you may not be able to see it, but there is usually many types of corals and critters on/in the rock. I had a little fish hitch hike inside of a rock and I didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t notice it for months. It was like a blenny or goby, but appeared to only come out at night; it was dark in color and very strange looking.
I have collected emerald crabs, snails, 100s of pounds of reef sand, some purple anemone shrimp, coral banded shrimp, baby conch, sea mats, curlicue anemones, arrow crabs, eels, and some unidentified critters that came with some rock. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve found some amazing colored serpent stars, orange starfish, purple Gorgonian and a few other corals. The arrow crabs were evil and I had to donate them.
Amazingly I brought all of the above back home in Indiana by driving in the dead of winter! The stuff was sitting outside in the back of a pickup. This took some serious preparation. I used a Rubbermaid tote suspended inside of a cardboard box encapsulated in AB foam. Basically huge DIY coolers. I individually bagged everything and used newspaper and some heat packs. 2 days later the temp went down only a few degrees! I was shocked. From what I remember everything made it just perfectly accept for the Gorgonian. Gorgonian have always been difficult to transport. The coolest part about taking rock from the ocean is that you may not be able to see it, but there is usually many types of corals and critters on/in the rock. I had a little fish hitch hike inside of a rock and I didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t notice it for months. It was like a blenny or goby, but appeared to only come out at night; it was dark in color and very strange looking.
kruxy
Active member
I have taken up collecting a little, albeit not in Florida, but up in Washington. We got a couple of buckets of nice inverts last weekend. Of great importance though is finding out the laws and what can and can not be taken, the restrictions are in place for a reason, collecting outside them can cause serious damage to the populations.
<img src="http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/466116/tired.jpg" width=800 height=600>
pics of the buckets turned out pretty poor it looks
<img src='http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/466116/bucket1.jpg' width=800 height=600 >
<img src='http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/466116/bucket2.jpg' width=800 height=600 >
<img src="http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/466116/tired.jpg" width=800 height=600>
pics of the buckets turned out pretty poor it looks
<img src='http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/466116/bucket1.jpg' width=800 height=600 >
<img src='http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/466116/bucket2.jpg' width=800 height=600 >
maractwin
Premium Member
I've done collecting in Rhode Island as well. The north end of the Gulf Stream ends up there, so some juveniles born in Florida end up there in the fall, where they'll die of cold during the winter if I don't catch them and put them in my tank first. I've checked the local laws, and tropical ornamentals are fair game.
I've caught three different species of butterflies, and a couple of damsels. Other fish are sometimes seen, but not as often.
-Mark
I've caught three different species of butterflies, and a couple of damsels. Other fish are sometimes seen, but not as often.
-Mark
As far as collecting in Florida, these are the rules of the road for recreational ornamental collecting, that had better be adhered to because the man sees all. Here is a link to collecting regs for Florida..http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/recharvestmls.htm
My last few dives have basically been freezer filling trips, but I have been keeping an eye open for the things I am allowed to collect and that being said, I have marked some spots on the GPS that I will be collecting some Macro at. I'm not to sure if I even want to try and collect fish but if I do it will probably be done with a slurp gun, so as not to damage the fish. I do agree that the reason regulations are there is so that my son and his son will beable to enjoy the ocean the way I do.
My last few dives have basically been freezer filling trips, but I have been keeping an eye open for the things I am allowed to collect and that being said, I have marked some spots on the GPS that I will be collecting some Macro at. I'm not to sure if I even want to try and collect fish but if I do it will probably be done with a slurp gun, so as not to damage the fish. I do agree that the reason regulations are there is so that my son and his son will beable to enjoy the ocean the way I do.
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