Loading ...Florida Fish and Wildlife Officials are cracking down on LFS owners here at MACNA.
Attending Macna and had a chance to talk to the FWC folks. They were issuing warnings to a good many of the vendors in the exhibit hall today if that tells you how it went! I spoke to Lieutenant Brown. He basically said as things stand right now (rules and laws), anyone selling, trading, auctioning or taking frags to their LFS for credit is committing an offense and can be fined and/or imprisoned if they don’t have the proper permits, licenses and certifications. He told me they have people dedicated to checking out e-bay, craigs list and now forums. If the transaction originates or terminates in Florida, they will be targeting those people. You need an aquaculture certificate if you are the one doing the fragging with the intent to sell or barter. You need a saltwater retail license if you are selling it to individuals. You need a wholesale license to sell or trade with a retail store (LFS).
Officials were prepared to hand out citations to all LFS owners operating without a permit, but have let everyone off with a warning. Hopefully this isn’t the end of frag swaps in Florida.
In the hobby since 2001, and has seen all kinds of fads come and go. As he gets older, Jeff is developing more and more of a conscience towards environmental concerns, especially towards reefs. Currently, he writes from Ontario, Canada, but would rather be snorkeling on a reef.
this is absolutely insane! crap like this needs to be handled by people who actually know what they are doing and why they should be doing it. this will put a lot more stress on local fish stores and aquarium clubs all throughout florida.
That’s total BS! Licenses, permits and certifications are one thing for fishing, hunting or business. If your not collecting in the wild and you purchased from a store there should be no reason for a permit to sell what you already legally bought.
Trade shows shouldn’t be targeted in such a way. Do you really think an organization will want to come back to your city/state if you harass their attendants? Doesn’t mean they get to break the law but is that what this really represents here?
Talked with the Lieutenant today, 9/5/2010. He clarified the rules. Basically, as the rules are written now, the FWC does not have a license in place that regulates the sale of corals. The retail or wholesale saltwater products license does not apply. Florida Statute 379.361 states:
(2)SALTWATER PRODUCTS LICENSE.—
(a) Every person, firm, or corporation that sells, offers for sale, barters, or exchanges for merchandise any saltwater products, or which harvests saltwater products with certain gear or equipment as specified by law, must have a valid saltwater products license, except that the holder of an aquaculture certificate under s. 597.004 is not required to purchase and possess a saltwater products license in order to possess, transport, or sell marine aquaculture products.
Saltwater products are defined in Florida Statue 379.101 as:
(36)“Saltwater products” means any species of saltwater fish, marine plant, or echinoderm, except shells, and salted, cured, canned, or smoked seafood.
Thus the license does not apply. There is however a record keeping rule that must be adhered to (Florida Administrative Code 68B-42.009(2)) and there may be Florida Dept. of Agriculture rule that would require one of their certificates.
Hope this helps…
As the person responsible for both most of the vendors and for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) being at the event I feel it is my responsibility to respond. First some facts:
1. FWC was at MACNA 2010 at my invitation.
2. No vendor at the event was fined. Although one acted very inappropriately and came close to getting arrested.
3. Lieutenant Brown acted with the upmost professionalism.
Now for some of the background: About a year ago I contacted the FWC about MACNA. I inquired both about them coming to the event to educate us about their programs and to find out what was required for the vendors at the event. As with a lot of things it took a few phone calls to get to the right person. Unfortunately by the time I got to the right people there was this “little” problem in the Gulf of Mexico (BP Oil Leak) which was a bit more important than a fish conference.
After things in the Gulf calmed down I was contacted by Martha Bademan from the FWC Office in Tallahassee about the opportunity to participate. I treated their desire to participate with open arms. FWC was given a booth at the event and Martha and Rick both had exhibitor badges waiting for them at registration. The internal communication within FWC could have been better as it was not shared with Lieutenant Brown that we had indeed inquired about what we should have had for the event. When Officer Brown was informed of this he responded appropriately by issuing warnings and not fines.
The FWC is responsible for such a wide range of wildlife that it is impossible for any officer to be an expert on any single area. What impressed me was that Lieutenant Brown had books and materials with him to help with the identification of the species that are found in Florida waters and thus are protected. He also had a willingness to both learn and admit when a mistake has been made. After being at the event on Saturday he went home to study the laws more carefully and found that Corals do not fall into the category of products defined as “Saltwater products” and thus do not require a licensee (strange as that may be). But it is necessary for people selling coral to be able to document that the corals were obtained from outside of the State of Florida.
Now for what may be the best part of the story. Because of FWC being at MACNA there is are discussions underway between the leaders of many Clubs in Florida, the FWC, and the Florida Department of Agriculture (they regulated Aquaculture). The goal being to eliminate the grey area that many clubs and club events have existing in for many years. If this comes to be I will be very proud that MACNA 2010 played a part. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly: jon.clements@macna2010.com