Is there a legal way of minor hobbyist coral harvesting in the Florida Keys?

[STiTCH87]

I'm going to the Florida Keys for 10 days on a honeymoon the first week of August 2014, and was wondering if there is any legal ways to harvest from the wild any small coral species?
I know SPS is an absolute no no as is ricordia, but what area zoas and palys, maybe gorgonians? Is it illegal to take any coral from the wild there or just some, or a certain size per person per day?
Having a very difficult time finding info on this subject and would love some reading info from a reputable source so I don't get arrested lol.
If someone has even done it themselves and cares to chime in, perfect.

I'll be in Key West, Key Largo, Big Pine, and am open to the suggestion of visiting other areas of Route 1 that are snorkeler friendly.

Also, if it is legal, then I also need to know, what is the best method of shipping corals overnight in August without things overheating/die-off?

I know people here have experience shipping overnight successfully and would love info on that.

I'd be setting up a quarantine tank for anything I bring back from Fla.

 

[sutton6989]

I know someone that gets zoas every once in a while. Don't kno if he needs a permit or not tho

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[STiTCH87]

I know they have a marine permit for $200 but that's to fish and stuff. And I ain't paying no $200 for softies haha

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[diverbh4]

http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/aquarium-species/
http://www.ehow.com/list_7422401_laws-harvesting-live-coral-florida.html

 

[dannyp02908]

Just to be the guy to say it, the mission of BRS is to promote aquaculture in order to save out natural reefs. Just saying.

 

[gsxr750]

5 polyps per person per day ...harvested with a flexible knife like a putty knife ...if you have a license I think its 1 liter of polyps per day and you can not remove any l.r.

 

[STiTCH87]

Just to be the guy to say it, the mission of BRS is to promote aquaculture in order to save out natural reefs. Just saying.

Yes, but when it's something as generic as fast growing softies, i'm not as concerned. Some see softies as pests as they grow over slow-growing SPS/LPS.

Also, if you really look into your tank, barely any of whats in there is aquacultured. Maybe some of the corals from other members, but somewhere down the ine they still came from the wild. Also, virtually all fish/inverts are wild caught too.

Not disagreeing with the mission of BRS, just saying, you can't always 100% follow it either.

That being said, after reading how much of a PITA it is to legally harvest corals from Florida, of which are usually not very colorful corals anyways, it's not worth it to me anymore.

 

[dannyp02908]

That's kool. I was only making the statement. Just to put it out there though, all of my coral is aquacultured.

 

[STiTCH87]

Pretty impressive. I can't make that type of commitment personally when some crazy colors aren't aquacultured yet. Idk how you guys do it. It's like my fiance going 100% cruelty free on all her products. Lot of time & research.

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[dannyp02908]

So at the end of the day you care more about that fresh new purple than the life you cost obtaining it? Good to know. For what it's worth, that's a direct contradiction to what BRS stands for.

 

[jfourn83]

So at the end of the day you care more about that fresh new purple than the life you cost obtaining it? Good to know. For what it's worth, that's a direct contradiction to what BRS stands for.

If he's the one out hacking up coral in the ocean that's 1 thing.... But buying a coral that is wild caught and growing it out and sharing with other reefers is completely different....

 

[JohnK]

So at the end of the day you care more about that fresh new purple than the life you cost obtaining it? Good to know. For what it's worth, that's a direct contradiction to what BRS stands for.

BRS mission statement;
Boston Reefers Society is committed to promoting interest in and enjoyment of all aspects of the marine aquarium hobby by educating the public on topics related to the biology, physiology, and chemistry of reef biotopes through the sponsorship of meetings, lectures, publications, websites, competitions, exhibits and other means. Providing a forum for sharing resources and information among local aquarium enthusiasts. Supporting research, education and conservation efforts aimed at improving marine and coral reef environments. Involving and educating young people about aquatic life and the aquarium hobby. Fostering camaraderie, friendship, and appreciation of aquatic life

I don't see anything about discouraging the legal and responsible collection of a small amount of wild coral?

 

[higorc]

WOW, this thread took a sharp turn from the first question fast!

I think as John and AMjfourn83 put it, responsibily collecting wild corals and then growing them for the hobby is what this hobby is about right? Every Aqua Cultured Coral anyone owns came from a Wild Reef at somepoint. I don't think they were created in a lab somewhere.

I lived in Florida from 2000 to 2005, and God forbid if you were ever caught taking Live Rock from the reefs or ilegaly collecting marine wild life. You would get fined and probably end up in jail so fast! They take that as serious as selling crack down there .

I used to collect local fish and inverts for a friend who used to have an Import/Export Exotic Fish wholesale business and even though we were allowed to get a certain amount of fish and inverts, we couldn't even touch corals and LR. A couple times I heard of people being caught harvesting LR and Corals and they used lose everything! Boats, house, pay a huge fine and even go to jail


Higor

 

[dannyp02908]

re

BRS mission statement;
Boston Reefers Society is committed to promoting interest in and enjoyment of all aspects of the marine aquarium hobby by educating the public on topics related to the biology, physiology, and chemistry of reef biotopes through the sponsorship of meetings, lectures, publications, websites, competitions, exhibits and other means. Providing a forum for sharing resources and information among local aquarium enthusiasts. Supporting research, education and conservation efforts aimed at improving marine and coral reef environments. Involving and educating young people about aquatic life and the aquarium hobby. Fostering camaraderie, friendship, and appreciation of aquatic life

I don't see anything about discouraging the legal and responsible collection of a small amount of wild coral?

I think supporting conservation efforts is just that. Coupled with the fact that the last time this exact topic came up, a board member stated in that thread that that was in contradiction to what the BRS is.

Is it legal to harvest wild coral? Yes. Is it responsible? Arguable at least. We have so many varieties of aquacultured coral available to us that going out as an inexperienced person simply to pluck corals from the wild at your will is completely unnecessary. I can understand at minimum buying them from an LFS as they were already collected. I can also understand wanting corals other than what we as a collective group have between us. But I can not agree that pulling them from the wild yourself is the way to obtain them.

 

[JohnK]

I respect your opinion, and in many ways agree.

I was simply pointing out that the mission statement you refered to actually doesn't specifically support what you were saying. One of the main reasons the club was created was to Encourage aquculture and captive propagation, but it has never been the mission of the club to prohibit or prevent wild collection completely. Many may feel that that is a goal to be sought (and I wouldn't argue against it), but that is opinion, not a fact that applies to the entire community.

 

[STiTCH87]

I'm too lazy to read all that, lol, but as many on here know even though I have wild coral, I grow them and sell pieces of them. Which is aquaculture at home. This thread went sooo off topic lol.

For the record everyone, I'm not a bad person & don't want to damage coral reefs. If I didn't care about coral I wouldn't own any.

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[JohnK]

I thought the initial question was very reasonable and worth asking, if not archiving

From what I have heard over the years, Florida is SUPER strict about how they regulate collection AND they will "throw the book" at anyone caught breaking the rules. You can't take even the slightest chip of rock, and almost everything is off limts except zoas and ricordia. Don't quote me on those particulars, but do take the time to read up on the rules so that if you do collect you don't end up doing time with some crack dealer or pervert

 

[STiTCH87]

I think with all the red tape to cross, I'm gonna stick to looking at the corals rather than collecting any lol. But yeah, was an honest question, got my answers I needed, and now I know. That's why I ask questions, to learn answers. If it weren't for BRS I wouldn't know anything about saltwater tanks and surely would not own one.

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[Ryan17]

"but as many on here know even though I have wild coral, I grow them and sell pieces of them. Which is aquaculture at home. "

That's what BRS is about and the more people we have doing this, eventually we won't need any wild coral.

 

[gsxr750]

The rics have been outlawed since 1997 ...penalties are 5 years $250k ...