Collection of Hard Corals in the Gulf

[ShAgMaN]

Karin - you tank is super sweet. It looks totally Florida Keys....minus tangs as someone else mentioned. :wink_smile:

Signal - I'm headed out to North Padre for 4-5 days and would like to pick up some white ones as well. Any suggestions on the best areas to look. Also do you have any pics of what they look like?

[signal_4]

Shagman. Just go out about 100-200 yards on the Jetties and on the Channel side and have a look around.. Ive mostly seen it on the rocks about 10 or so ft down... just look on the sides and tops of the rocks that are a little out from the jetty itself. Just take a flat screw driver with you to pop the coral off at its base. Karin these are the yellow gorgs that I was talking about in the last pic.

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[signal_4]

11754117551175611757 some more

[Europhyllia]

They are gorgeous. Congrats. :)
I am still fairly certain that they would be protected under the federal law that protects the hard corals in our domestic waters. Why not start a separate thead on this topic? Maybe people like Jarob etc. have further info on this?

[signal_4]

It might very well be. James Davis and I have had several talks with Game Wardens and the U.S fish and Wildlife and the opinion was that there is no such protection in Texas.. However they are protected in Florida and other deep water areas in the US. What we were advised by them was just to have a state fishing license if at the jetties. Of course this was just for collecting on a personal level and it would be illegal to collect and then sell anything out of the ocean without the proper permit. Same goes with collecting on the Rigs.. You have to get a cheap federal permit if collecting on the rigs while using your boat...and then if you want to sell the stuff its a second cheap permit...then of course you have to have a state fishing license when you come back to shore. Think of it this way.. if they were protected here then fishing at the jetties probably wouldnt be allowed. I have seen several pieces tangled in fishing line and some so bad that the coral has encrusted and incorporated the fishing line into its skeleton !!! It might very well be protected but no one around here seems to know if it is...

[ShAgMaN]

The channel side being the opposite side of the inlet or calmer side, right? Also, is there a bull shark factor out there. I always have to ask when diving in unfamiliar territory.

[FireWater]

Terry, that factor is always there. I have never dove/snorkeled at the jetties, but have pulled some sharks off them while fishing from the boat. I have also seen several sharks while wade fishing. I still have all my appendages attached and none seemed to be interested in me yet though.

[FireWater]

Also, let me say that I have never pulled a bull shark from the jetties. Other species have been caught and released by me though.

[ShAgMaN]

Terry, that factor is always there. I have never dove/snorkeled at the jetties, but have pulled some sharks off them while fishing from the boat. I have also seen several sharks while wade fishing. I still have all my appendages attached and none seemed to be interested in me yet though.

Ya I know it's always there, just wondering how common.

In the Florida panhandle there was good rule of thumb that going past the second sand bar was sketchy during certain parts of the year. Also there were certain areas where white tips were common. In the Keys, Lemons and nurse sharks are common.....none of these disturb me like the bull shark.

One summer two people were attacked (one killed the other a leg taken) in areas by Panama City Beach were I commonly went out - they were all over that year and it kinda freaked me out.

That said, I grew up surfing in So. Cal. and have even seen a few out there (surfed almost daily at the same beach a man was later killed by a great white - Solana Beach) but it never really bothered me at the time...they just wern't common.

I guess I was just curious what the common preditory sea life is in the area.

[Squiers007]

I am fairly certain that collection of hard corals, even in Texas is illegal even with a fishing license. I have collected Oculina (the brown/white hard coral in the pictures) out there before for research and we had to have our collection permit on us at all times. The permit was issued by TPWD.

[signal_4]

Logan ... the reason you needed a permit is because of Kevin Strychar !! LOL No really its probably because you were collecting for research or if you were out at the rigs it was because you were in federal waters. Im telling yall myself and and James Davis had lengthy convos with TPWD and US fish and Wildlife.... If there is something protecting it ...it is double super secret hidden away...If any one finds something plz let us know. The permits that I mentioned earlier were also issued by TPWD but applied for collecting out at the rigs in federal waters by boat.

[ShAgMaN]

I know that in Florida, the collector I dove with took hard coral collection seriously. I went diving with a commercially licensed collector and picked up an SPS for him. I didn't know the laws, but once he recognized the coral he quickly threw it out of the boat. Sucks, cause the coral was unique, but I should have know better. There's a good reason for this protection, there wasn't many out there....unlike gorgs.

[Squiers007]

Logan ... the reason you needed a permit is because of Kevin Strychar !! LOL No really its probably because you were collecting for research or if you were out at the rigs it was because you were in federal waters. Im telling yall myself and and James Davis had lengthy convos with TPWD and US fish and Wildlife.... If there is something protecting it ...it is double super secret hidden away...If any one finds something plz let us know. The permits that I mentioned earlier were also issued by TPWD but applied for collecting out at the rigs in federal waters by boat.

You may be right... but honestly I have been diving on those jetties several times and there is so little of that coral present that I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone collecting it even if it were only a few people. There just isn't enough of it out there.

[Third Coast Tropical]

there is so little of that coral present that I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone collecting it even if it were only a few people. There just isn't enough of it out there.

well said