Diving vs Shell Collecting

[TMHeimer]

Shell / Coral collecting.

When we go into a fragile environment we should go down with what we have attached to us and surface again with exactly we took down. Okay if on a conservation dive it is different, or you see a deck plate off a boat balancing over a fan coral then remove it etc, but to take from a reef is threatening to the life of the reef.

One person takes a shell, ok. 2 people take ok. but if it goes on and on it will eventually start to damage the eco system of that reef.

Shells are important, I have noticed over the last few years how scarce large shells are actually becoming. I have seen loads of people breaking off coral, even after being briefed not too. When we actually become divers we should become automatically more concerned toward the enviroment we dive in. We are not wreckies or salvagers trying take pieces with us.If not then dont be a diver.

If you went to the super market to buy food or stores and some one helped them selves to your supplies whilst loading them in your car you'd either call them thief or call the cops.
To steal from a reef is to cause death to the inhabitants who live there. We are no better than thieves or murderers.

In the Maldives you cant even take the dead coral off the beach home with you.

In the Dominican republic dead coral is everywhere, on the beaches, built into breakwaters, walls etc it is very sad to see, coral and shells readily available for collection, but at what price!! Another eco system destroyed by mankind.

Another subject which should be addressed which is equally on par with removal of coral, shells etc is that of feeding fish, ie with bread and bananas and egg etc, A TOTAL NO NO.

Whilst im ranting on, Spear fishing I think is a terrible sport. It should be banned, if a spearfisherman is attacked whilst spear fishing then that goes part and parcel with the risk of spearing fish. It would be nice to see some of the "game" actually win now and then, maybe teach spearfishers a lesson or too and then lets see how things go.

.

OK guys, now the non-PC viewpoint of a lifelong collector. 90% of the world's big game fish existing in 1980 are gone. Off the N.E. Atlantic Coast lies a barren ocean bottom the size of Saskatchewan (almost the size of Texas) due to bottom trawling. Bleached coral all over the Caribbean due to climate change (by man?). Shops in Florida and other parts of the U.S. and Caribbean countries sell shells by the MILLIONS-all taken live. Some countries prohibit guys like me from taking a handfull of shells but permit locals to do it as a business. I do understand dive charter ops prohibiting it as a matter of business, as there would be less to look at for future customers (though the party line is that it is for the ecology, not a money issue). As a PADI Master SD, I know the mantra:"Take only pictures, leave only bubbles" and that we must be "ambassadors" setting a good example for all. So if I don't collect any shells, who am I setting an example for, the other 5 divers on the charter? I started collecting by snorkeling at age 15, have been diving for 2 years, and am 53. Guess I missed my chance--now it's rules here, permits there, dirty looks on the boat. Figure this: Fishing license and limits of 4,6 fish of this or that species are rules for the angler--Commercial boat Gulf of Mexico limits are 8,000 POUNDS after cleaning. By the way, in most of Florida, with the exception of Queen Conchs, you can take as many live shells as you want-IF you fork over money to the state for a FISHING license. So much for that. Come to Canada where the shells are few and dull, and nobody gives a hoot what you take--they're not pretty like in the tropics, so I guess that's OK. A guy smokes a cigarette outside-he's polluting the air. Gee, that's a lot of smoke compared to all the world's cars and factories, not to mention natural forest fires. That comparison to shell collectors is not ridiculous. PADI admits that the damage done to reefs by divers is miniscual compared to world pollution. By the way, I don't take live coral. If every individual fisherman took every fish he ever caught it would be less than a drop in the bucket compared to the commercial guys. Collect responsibly. Anti-collectors please don't go so overboard on the little stuff like we tend to do in today's world. The guy who's anti-spearfishing is unbelievable. Hey, you can only spear one at a time and exit before the blood makes you shark bait. This is a bit less that commercial nets on Lake Winnipeg. Just keep it all in perspective. Thanks. Tom H.

 

[Walter]

Tom, do you realize the last post in this thread before yours was exactly 7 years ago?

 

[TMHeimer]

Walter, You're the man! I agree with you on almost every point. I should add that actually most Caribbean countries do have laws restricting collecting most species of live shells, while in Florida only Queen Conchs are restricted. I know Abalones are restricted in California. As I mentioned in another thread, the commercial shellers take a Gazillion times more than all the divers put together ever took. Where are the laws to restrict them? One guy replied to me that I felt it was "OK for me to collect since I wasn't doing it as bad as someone else". He missed the point. The commercial people aren't just doing it worse than me, they're doing it a Quintrillion times worse than me! Another guy said that he was an adult now and "didn't need any trophies", while another's quote was "Think globally, act locally". I enjoy these posts because I find it entertaining to count the 1990s/2000s "IN" sayings that pop up. Tom H

 

[DRsharky]

People should preserve what they have and not to destroy it, even it's legal. I've seen so many so called dive professionals to touch and damage corals or underwater creatures, my heart always stops for a second when I see it.
I just realized that the original post was done in 2000 so I am almost 8 years late with my comment, and I bet since then there has been much more damage done, so sad

 

[perdidochas]

What do you do to forbid other divers from collecting shell? Now that every instructor teaches every diver/would be - diver: to take only pictures & to leave only bubbles - why there are still collector aka diver out there?

There is a group of islands near my home, where the natives will bring all kinds of sea shell, ranging from the size of child fist to volley ball - nautilus shell included, in front of visitors; to trade them with used T-SHIRT. This is really a sad fact.

Ray

There is nothing wrong with taking dead shells.

 

[perdidochas]

Shell / Coral collecting.

When we go into a fragile environment we should go down with what we have attached to us and surface again with exactly we took down. Okay if on a conservation dive it is different, or you see a deck plate off a boat balancing over a fan coral then remove it etc, but to take from a reef is threatening to the life of the reef.

One person takes a shell, ok. 2 people take ok. but if it goes on and on it will eventually start to damage the eco system of that reef.

Shells are important, I have noticed over the last few years how scarce large shells are actually becoming. I have seen loads of people breaking off coral, even after being briefed not too. When we actually become divers we should become automatically more concerned toward the enviroment we dive in. We are not wreckies or salvagers trying take pieces with us.If not then dont be a diver.

If you went to the super market to buy food or stores and some one helped them selves to your supplies whilst loading them in your car you'd either call them thief or call the cops.
To steal from a reef is to cause death to the inhabitants who live there. We are no better than thieves or murderers.

In the Maldives you cant even take the dead coral off the beach home with you.

In the Dominican republic dead coral is everywhere, on the beaches, built into breakwaters, walls etc it is very sad to see, coral and shells readily available for collection, but at what price!! Another eco system destroyed by mankind.

Another subject which should be addressed which is equally on par with removal of coral, shells etc is that of feeding fish, ie with bread and bananas and egg etc, A TOTAL NO NO.

Whilst im ranting on, Spear fishing I think is a terrible sport. It should be banned, if a spearfisherman is attacked whilst spear fishing then that goes part and parcel with the risk of spearing fish. It would be nice to see some of the "game" actually win now and then, maybe teach spearfishers a lesson or too and then lets see how things go.

.

There is nothing wrong with spearfishing fish species that are legal to harvest. The last time I spearfished, most of the fish I saw won--i.e. they didn't get speared by me.

 

[TMHeimer]

Many corals are endangered. I'm not talking about coral--entirely different from shells. And much of it is now bleached anyway, thanks to man.

 

[Bratface]

Walter, I love your attitude.

Now, back to the question posted...I often dive with tourist who constantly want to pick up shells. It's illegal in FL to even touch a conch shell. I have gently taken the shell from them and put it back where it was. I always have told them when we were back on the boat why I did that, and it's always covered in the dive brief.

Maybe you are thinking this is none of my business, so here's another example. When I was living in the Virgin Islands, relaxing on the beach, I remember a family who took a starfish out of the ocean. It was bigger than my hand. They all passed it around having their photo opportunities until one of it's arms broke off. They threw it back into the ocean and went away. Please don't give me any lip about the arm growing back.

If you are a diver, you are a guardian of the ocean.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Are people snapping of live coral? I have never seen anyone take a shell or coral in all my dives, but if I say someone snapping off coral I think I would say something. I was on a dive recently with a group from my LDS. I was so proud of my LDS owner when he went over to talk to a group of divers about how they were finning the crap out of the corals and that they needed to stop doing it.

I don't take anything on my dives except the occasional trash I find (beer cans, plastic bags, etc). I'm very careful not to touch or kick anything on the reefs.

 

[TMHeimer]

Queen Conchs are the only shells protected by Florida--Because they are reported to be endangered (Though I believe they are big in the food industry in The Bahamas & elsewhere down there, where it is permitted for locals to take them en masse as a business, but illegal for a tourist diver to take one). In Florida, Fighting Conchs, Crown Conchs and all other Gastropods (snails, whelks, etc.) and bivalves (clams, scallops) are fair game because they are not endangered. With the exception of Lee County (Sanibel Island), it is perfectly legal to collect any shell except the queen Conch---As long as you buy a Florida State SALT WATER (why do you need one?)fishing license to the tune of about $50 for a non-resident (what's the $50 for?). So, pay the state, take what you want, even though they aren't endangered anyway! Ah, to go back to the '70s! CORAL is an entirely different story- Apples & Oranges. But I believe it has been proven that warmer water temperatures mostly("global warming"), and to some extent pesticides, etc. are responsible for almost all the dead/bleached coral. Though I agree that divers should never touch live coral, I doubt seriously that diver damage is responsible for more than 1% of destroyed coral. Yeah, I know, every little bit hurts--we are the ambassadors of the seas, etc. Starfish, on the other hand, are much like shells, I imagine--haven't heard anything yet about them being endangered. Taking a starfish out of the water to photo or keep may be distasteful to some, and something a person doing so must rationalize. Much like a shell collector boiling shells for his collection. But these activities by individuals have not proven to affect shell/starfish populations much, if at all. Hey, it's OK to dump live lobsters into boiling water because we eat them. Does that make it right. Sounds painful to me.