Tourist jailed for collecting seashells on Florida beach

[Judi Lynn]

4 hours ago



A Texas woman visiting Florida's Key West on holiday has been jailed after she took some seashells from the beach.

Diana Fiscal-Gonzalez, 30, was arrested by a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer after she was found with a group of children taking the protected molluscs.

She pleaded guilty to taking 40 still-living queen conch shells, telling the judge she did not know it was illegal.

Ms Fiscal-Gonzalez has been ordered to serve 15 days in jail and pay a $500 (£385) fine.

More:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44889876

[elleng]

1. 40 still-living queen conch shells

[voteearlyvoteoften]

2. Yeh like the guys last year who took a key deer

What is wrong with some people sheesh.
Wow jail though they are serious about this probably because they didn’t believe she didn’t know.

[soryang]

3. Queen Conch protected by state regulation

Queen conch are found predominantly in south Florida from the Florida Keys to Key Biscayne. They once constituted significant commercial and recreational fisheries in Florida. In 1975, the commercial fishery was closed due to overfishing. In 1985, this ban was extended to the recreational fishery in state waters (Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 68b-16.003) and 1986 in contiguous federal waters for those aboard vessels registered in Florida (Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 68b-16.005).

http://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/mollusc/queen-conch/stock-restoration-report/

68B-16.001 Designation as a Protected Species.
The queen conch, species Strombus gigas, is hereby designated as a protected species. The purposes of designation as a protected species are to increase public awareness of the need for extensive conservation action in order to prevent this resource from becoming endangered, to encourage voluntary conservation practices, and to enlist the assistance of the general public in enforcing the stringent measures imposed by this chapter

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?id=68B-16.001

[No Vested Interest]

4. Florida being a state that promotes and profits through tourism,

I hope they provide plenty of signage explaining that mollusks, conch shells, and key deer are protected species.

I recall years ago large conch shells were given away free with a gas fill-up; I still have one of those shells in my bathroom.

Seeing so many shells sold all over Florida, many unthinking and unknowing tourists (visitors) could easily assume those on the beach were just a gift to them.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. As a kid, I had several, too. My grandmother gave them to me

She spent several winters in Florida.

[procon]

5. Her story makes no sense.

These weren't just empty shells, they also included the big mollusk living inside them. She said she wanted the shells as gifts, but the only way to get the critter out is to either let them die and rot, leaving the stench in the shell for a long time. Or crack the shell, breaking the suction and removing the mollusk.

She wasn't doing that, she was keeping them alive in big water filled plastic tubs, presumably ready to transport back to Texas. Did she plan to make some quick cash by selling them to restaurants or aquarium shops?

[eppur_se_muova]

6. You can't collect LIVE conchs "on the beach". She had to at least go snorkeling, if not diving.

Maybe, MAYBE she found some of these in tide pools. But they are not beach creatures.

The fact that she kept them alive suggests she was planning to sell them -- probably to collectors, maybe to gourmands.

Not buying the protestations of ignorance here.

[Control-Z]

7. I was in Myrtle Beach, SC for a week last month.

We stayed in a beach front hotel that had (along with 5 pools) a water station specifically for washing the sand off of shells. Not only is is not against the law to take shells it almost felt like it was being encouraged.

[No Vested Interest]

11. No conch shells on Carolina beaches. Just ordinary common seashells.

Actually, they have names, I just can't recall at this minute.

[Control-Z]

12. I believe it is illegal to take any kind of shell

from California beaches. It is my only point of reference on the subject. And I may even have that wrong. The tide pools in places like Laguna Beach have been protected for quite a while. I'm not sure about the beaches.

[No Vested Interest]

13. I don't know about CA beaches. Pacific Ocean is so different from the Atlantic - rougher, seals, etc

My brother lives in SoCal, & visits the beach towns, but not likely the beaches.

[marble falls]

8. At least she pled guilty and got 15 days. This thing just makes me sick. Someones collecting ...

for conch salad special. She's just got to own a restaurant.

[NeoGreen]

9. I would suggest the headline is...

...misleading, unless it is also illegal to remove shells alone. Similar to rules against removing petrified wood and artifacts from federal parks.

Either way, her net penalty seems a bit low. Should possibly be fined for each live animal.