Illegal Corals

[Darroll]

Where can I get some? LOL


Just kidding around; I am curious as to what consists of illegal corals and why are they illegal?

[jgoodrich71]

Corals that come out of the Atlantic are illegal. Hopefully with captive propagation Atlantic species will become available to the hobby, but I'm sure that is still a long ways off.

[Darroll]

And why is that?

[Weatherman]

Overfishing, and some recent natural events that have drastically reduced the supply.

[Darroll]

So are keeping them illegal or is harvesting them illegal? Are specific species not allowed to be kept? I take it that this is a US law.

[magnum420]

What about Florida Ricordia??

[Paintbug]

its because of all the people going out and grabbing what they could, trying to sell it to some fish shop, trying to sell it some poor soul, when none of them know how to keep it alive. then one day, the someone notices that alot of corals, and fish are now gone or close to it. so they decide to put them on the protected species list so the reefs dont just completly disappear. make sense?

[Dubbin1]

Originally posted by Darroll
So are keeping them illegal or is harvesting them illegal?

You have to harvest them to keep them

[Darroll]

Originally posted by Dubbin1
You have to harvest them to keep them

Well they would have to be originally harvested to keep them, but there are frags of everything out there. Are their corals that are illegal no matter how I get them? or is it just the harvesting of endangered areas?

[capt. insano]

Originally posted by Dubbin1
You have to harvest them to keep them

no you don't.....is keeping the species itself illegal, even if it came from a maricultured source? (i.e. a frag from someone else) or is it illegal to go out and harvest wild colonies? There is a difference

[Dubbin1]

Oh so you want to know if it is ok to get them from someone who illegally harvested them

[Darroll]

Great way to miss the point. The question is on the legality of keeping corals. Are there any specific species that cannot be legaly kept by a hobbiest, regaurdless of how they were aquired.

[Weatherman]

Here's a reference to Florida law:

http://www.scubadivecharters.com/FL.htm

46-42.009 Prohibition on the Taking, Destruction, or Sale of Marine Corals and Sea Fans; Exception;
Repeal of Section 370.114, Florida Statutes.--

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), no person shall take, attempt to take, or otherwise destroy, or sell, or attempt to sell, any sea fan of the species Gorgonia flabellum or of the species Gorgonia ventalina, or any hard or stony coral (Order Scleractinia) or any fire coral (Genus Millepora). No person shall possess any such fresh, uncleaned, or uncured sea fan, hard or stony coral, or fire coral.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to:

(a) Any sea fan, hard or stony coral, or fire coral legally harvested outside of state waters or federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters adjacent to state waters and entering Florida in interstate or international commerce.The burden shall be upon any person possessing such species to establish the chain of possession from the initial transaction after harvest, by appropriate receipt(s), bill(s) of sale, or bill(s) of lading, and any customs receipts, and to show that such species originated from a point outside the waters of the State of Florida or federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to state waters and entered the state in interstate or international commerce. Failure to maintain such documentation or to promptly produce same at the request of any duly authorized law enforcement officer shall constitute a violation of this rule.

(b) Any sea fan, hard or stony coral, or fire coral harvested and possessed pursuant to permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection for scientific or educational purposes as authorized in Section 370.10(2), Florida Statutes.

(c) Any sea fan, hard or stony coral, or fire coral harvested and possessed pursuant to the aquacultured live rock provisions of Rule 46-42.008(3)(a) or pursuant to a Live Rock Aquaculture Permit issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service under 50 C.F.R. Part 638 and meeting the following requirements:

1. Persons possessing these species in or on the waters of the state shall also possess a state submerged lands lease for live rock aquaculture and a Department of Environmental Protection permit for live rock culture deposition and removal or a federal Live Rock Aquaculture Permit. If the person possessing these species is not the person named in the documents required herein, then the person in such possession shall also possess written permission from the person so named to transport aquacultured live rock pursuant to
this exception.

2. The nearest office of the Florida Marine Patrol shall be notified at least 24 hours in advance of any transport in or on state waters of aquacultured live rock pursuant to this exception.

3. Persons possessing these species off the water shall maintain and produce upon the request of any duly authorized law enforcement officer sufficient documentation to
establish the chain of possession from harvest on a state submerged land lease for live rock aquaculture or in adjacent Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters pursuant to a federal Live Rock Aquaculture Permit.

4. Any sea fan, hard or stony coral, or fire coral harvested pursuant to Rule 46-42.008(3)(a) shall remain attached to the cultured rock.

(3) It is the intent of this rule to effect the repeal and replacement of Section370.114, Florida Statutes. The Commission has determined that the repeal of this statute will not adversely affect the marine coral resources of the State of Florida.

Specific Authority 370.027(2), F.S.; Section 6, Chapter 83-134, Laws of Florida, as amended by Chapter 84-121, Laws of Florida. Law Implemented 370.025, 370.027, F.S.; Section 6, Chapter 83-134, Laws of Florida, as amended by Chapter 84-121, Laws of Florida. History - New 1-1-95.

[Darroll]

That, as I briefed, only deals with the harvesting of Corals. That leaves the question as to wether owning a specific coral is illegal.

[reeferkid]

from that i would guess that it is illegal to harvest any of the corals mentioned however if you find someone who has had a colony of said coral since before there collection was banned then you can get a frag from that person, I THINK

[TippyToeX]

There are also corals that can not be imported into the US, which would make the illegal to have in our home aquariums. Fish as well. You should check out CITES list for that information.

[Weatherman]

Originally posted by Darroll
That, as I briefed, only deals with the harvesting of Corals. That leaves the question as to wether owning a specific coral is illegal.

Take a look at the last sentence of subsection (1), above.

[Anemone]

Originally posted by Darroll
That, as I briefed, only deals with the harvesting of Corals. That leaves the question as to wether owning a specific coral is illegal.

No person shall possess any such fresh, uncleaned, or uncured sea fan, hard or stony coral, or fire coral.

Kevin

[Darroll]

I see that.

But then again this is only a FL law. Where can we check out CITES? I'm not familiar with it.

[TippyToeX]

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

[Weatherman]

Originally posted by Darroll
I see that.

But then again this is only a FL law. Where can we check out CITES? I'm not familiar with it.

http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/text.shtml

[Myrphie]

No person shall possess any such fresh, uncleaned, or uncured sea fan, hard or stony coral, or fire coral.

That line is from the section describing wild-collected specimens without permit. Thus, I take that to mean no person shall possess any that were not collected legally. I could be wrong, but it seems like a tricky situation. If it was collected legally or harvested, it's legal to possess. If not, it's not.

[Darroll]

Checked out CITES for a bit couldn't find a list of banned species.

Anyone know of a specific species that is banned? And if it was banned for import, does that make owning one a crime?

[AquaticFins]

Originally posted by Myrphie
That line is from the section describing wild-collected specimens without permit. Thus, I take that to mean no person shall possess any that were not collected legally. I could be wrong, but it seems like a tricky situation. If it was collected legally or harvested, it's legal to possess. If not, it's not.

Yes, but then you need to read down to 2.a:

The burden shall be upon any person possessing such species to establish the chain of possession from the initial transaction after harvest, by appropriate receipt(s), bill(s) of sale, or bill(s) of lading, and any customs receipts, and to show that such species originated from a point outside the waters of the State of Florida

It's legal to have one only if YOU can prove it was collected legally.

[jgoodrich71]

From what I understand, there are permits that allow for collection for use in scientific/academic study. The problem comes about in how do you prove that this was a frag from a legally collected specimen. This is the area where I think it is going to take several years to work out.

So, unless you are the one with the permit for the coral, how do you prove that that particular coral was collected legally.