Coral Heads for sale in Florida

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

handben

Contributor
Messages
194
Reaction score
25
Location
Charm City - Baltimore, MD
# of dives
200 - 499
Two weeks ago while down in South Florida for the New Years weekend, I had a couple of good dive days before the cold hit and we had to hunker down on dry land. Just sort of blowing some time, I went into a tourist nautical themed shop in Stuart. I was flabbergasted to see all the coral on display for sale. It had been bleached out, and was coral heads, coral "nests" and other coral that appeared to have been harvested intact (as opposed to found dead on the beach). I thought that it was just the general state of pollution that was to blame for the lack of large coral in the area; but when I saw how much money they were asking (up to $100 or so for a small coffee table top sized coral head). I can see how folks would be killing and taking anything large enough to display. Are there no laws in Florida protecting the coral from this type of harvest?
 
Most of the corals and shells you see in FL giftshops are imported from Asia.
 
Most of the corals and shells you see in FL giftshops are imported from Asia.

Also some of those are farm raised
 
Also some of those are farm raised

I didn't know that coral was able to be cultivated that way, I guess it makes sense if it can be grown in aquariums. I don't feel so bad actually about farm raised coral as decorative pieces. This is not as bad destroying natural reefs purely for gaudy aesthetics.

"All species of hard or stony coral (Order Scleractinia) and all fire coral (Family Milleporidae) are prohibited for harvest in state waters of Florida unless it is pursuant to a research permit. "

FWC - Saltwater Regulations Coral Questions & Answers

I am heartened to see Floridian lawmakers trying to protect the reefs.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom