Anna Maria Mayor Dorothy McChesney in 1996 battled in court to enact a measure banning the removal of sand dollars from local beaches.
The county agreed to limit people from removing more than two of any live mollusks from beaches in the county.
Anna Maria agreed to put signs up in 1998 but since then enforcement has slipped.
The most recent signs put up in the city fail to mention the ban on removing more than two live seashells from the water and people appear unaware of the restriction.
Anna Maria part-time resident Kathy Wolfe discovered two people with an inflatable boat filled with mounds of sand dollars and other live shells July 27. Wolfe said the woman collecting the shells told her she is an artist and uses the shells to craft wind chimes.
“I told her those things are going to start to die and you’re probably going to dump them at a gas station somewhere on the way home, because it’s going to smell like a dead body. She didn’t care,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“They had an officer call me back and he told me there is a 100-pound limit per person per day and a 41-pound limit on conchs and that there was nothing that he could do about it,” Wolfe said. “It was so disgusting and so disheartening.”
Although Florida generally does have a 100-pound daily limit on unregulated species, Manatee County limits people to taking no more than two live shells daily.
Wolfe and her husband are West Virginia residents who have vacationed in Anna Maria for nine years.
“The last two weeks we’ve been here, we’ve picked sand dollars up, took pictures and put them back,” Wolfe said. “And that’s what you should do. The only thing you should take from the sea is a picture, not a live creature.”
According to Amanda Nalley, a public information specialist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, enforcement for such laws typically goes to the FWC.
“Technically, any sworn law enforcement officer can enforce this law … but typically it would come to us,” Nalley said in an email.
If anyone sees suspected violations, they are encouraged to call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922. The limit only exists in Manatee County, where beachgoers are limited to two live shells, and Lee County, where no live creatures can be removed.
For more information on the live shell regulations, go to www.islander.org or visit the FWC website.
FWC shell regulations:
Closed and Restricted Areas: In Manatee County, you may not harvest or possess more than two shells (includes echinoderms such as sand dollars and starfish) containing live organisms of any single species except for oysters, hard clams, sunray venus clams and coquinas per day.
Also, the harvest of certain species may be limited or prohibited in state or federal parks, national wildlife refuges and portions of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Interested persons should contact those park areas for further information.
Prohibited Species: All harvest of the Bahama Starfish (Oreaster reticulatis) is prohibited. Possession of live Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) at any time is prohibited. It is not unlawful to possess queen conch shells in Florida as long as the shells do not contain any living queen conch at the time of collection, and so long as a living queen conch is not killed, mutilated, or removed from its shell prior to collection. Possession of conch meat or a queen conch shell having an off-center hole larger than 1/16 inch in diameter through its spire is prohibited.
Bag Limits: Seasons, bag limits, and other regulations must be followed for species that are regulated by the FWC, such as bay scallops even when these species are not collected for food. The bag limit for marine life (tropical ornamental) species is 20 organisms per person per day. As of July 1, 2009, only five of any one marine life species is allowed within the 20-organism marine life bag limit. For unregulated species, more than 100 pounds or 2 fish per person per day (whichever is greater) is considered commercial quantities and requires a saltwater products license.
License Requirement: A Florida recreational saltwater fishing license is required in order to harvest a sea shell containing a living organism, even when harvesting from shore. See shoreline fishing FAQs for more information.