Harvesting live Rock and sand?????

[fish_dewd]

Great forum
My dad does a lot of scuba diving here in SW Florida. He said he can get whatever sand and rock I want. He dives 10- 20 miles out in the gulf of mexico
He can also collect fishes and inverts and corals too.
The big question is should I use the wild stuff or by from dealer/LFS?
Thanks for all that reply.

 

[wamp]

In some areas, it is illegal to remove stuff from the water. You may want to check that out first.

 

[wamp]

If you can, make sure you quarintine the stuff you get.

 

[melbournefl]

Actually removing anything in the way of coral or rock from the reefs within 200 miles of the coast is illegal since 1997. If you find things like xmas tree worms or feather dusters attached to an oyster shell you can collect it legally but if it's attached to rock or coral (dead or alive) it's off limits.
Just don't wanna see you dad fined a few hundred bucks for 20 bucks of live rock
Later,
Paul

 

[a&m aggie 04']

i would think the countries you bring it back to. Just my thought though

 

[melbournefl]

Red you could very well be correct about international laws. For some reason I had 200 miles stuck in my head. The point remains the same, collecting in US waters is now illegal and I'd hate to be the one to have to prove to the Coast Guard that the corals onboard were collected outside that area I'm sure it's done on a daily basis *but* the "reef protection" acts were designed to protect the reefs from just that kind of collection. It seems that one little diver picking up a few corals wouldn't matter, but multiply it by the number of divers we have here in Florida and it kinda' makes sense.
Just my .02,
Paul

 

[tru conch]

the rules are kinda shady, according to the fish and game. it is illegal to collect lr in state waters, but not in federal. but you cant transport it legally through state waters.
inverts are 20 per day
octocorals (gorgonians) are allowed be collect (6 per day) but no seafans
fish there are certain limits, check the pamphlet for details.
hth

 

[pmauro]

Florida has very specific laws about reefs and collecting, you should check the state fish and wildlife web page for details.

 

[ricksreef]

for anyone interested,here's the
collecting laws for fla.
www.marinefisheries.org/Ch68B-42.htm
HTH