Florida beachgoer who took queen conch shells sentenced to 15 days in jail

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Florida beachgoer who took queen conch shells sentenced to 15 days in jail: report | Fox News

By Zoe Szathmary | Fox News



A 30-year-old woman from Dallas, Texas, is facing more than two weeks of jail time next month after removing protected conchs from the water last summer, the Florida Keys Keynoter reports.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officer nabbed Diana Fiscal-Gonzalez at a Key West home in July 2017 after someone reportedly witnessed the woman cleaning off the mollusks.

The officer said he found the conchs in plastic bins and transported them back into the ocean, with the majority of them alive, according to the newspaper.

Fiscal-Gonzalez allegedly intended for the 40 seashells to be gifts.

On Friday, she pleaded no contest and told a judge she wasn’t aware it was against the law to take them, the report said.

She was sentenced to jail for 15 days and given 6 months probation in addition to paying $268 in court costs and a $500 fine, according to the newspaper.

The Florida FWC says people can legally collect seashells, but the shells can't contain a living organism.

"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," the agency explains on its website.

 

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[redcobra8u]

You get what you deserve.

 

[vpnavy]

Dang - I wouldn't have known they were "queen conch shells" or king, son, daughter or whatever shell! I sure hope they just let her pay the fine as a "lesson learned" and not serve time. I know - I know - "ignorance of the law is no excuse" - but geeeze - how many here can actual id a shell let alone know if it is protected? Yea, I guess I am the only one who didn't know...

 

[mham2]

shell collecting laws

 

[lookindown]

Jail time...really...have illegal drugs, break in some ones house, get probation...collect a shell and get jail time...our country is becoming a joke.

 

[Kray Gelder]

I saw that story also. It doesn't say what method she used to collect them. Diving? Wading the shallows? Regardless, that's pretty extreme, unless she obviously was set up to harvest commercial quantities, then she was lying, and the judge knew it. Her punishment was appropriate. If she was just a tourist, and was able to collect that many live conchs, then there is obviously a healthy population of them, and they don't need protection. In that case, the punishment is too severe.

 

[RTR]

Regulation Nation

 

[ecmjamsit]

I would have been happier if she picked up 40 big bags of trash off the beach and paid a large fine. I have spent some time there in the Keys and the trash I saw was atrocious. I can imagine what it is now with the last hurricane.

 

[Davers]

40 Shells ? with live Animals in them ?

Why would she keep them alive?

IMO Much more than "Gifts" were involved.

I used to have such shells in many places around the house , Now I put them outside or in the Attic .

I bought a few Empty ones from the Guy's meeting our Tour Ship in 1992 when we docked in the Bahamas .

I gotta get back to FL , + my Mom's buried there.

Well now we know 'No live Creatures in the shell's you/ I find'.

 

[islamoradamark]

hang em high they went easy on her larger fine also

 

[Kray Gelder]

What does conch meat go for these days? $10, $20 per pound? She may have intended to sell them, illegally.

 

[Kray Gelder]

hang em high they went easy on her larger fine also

You live there. What's the status on conchs? Rare? Or not.

 

[mham2]

My wife hunts for shells when I’m metal detecting, we have taken live shells , no problem .as long as u have a Florida salt water fishing license although they are restricted in some areas . The laws are easy to find on line.Kind of like collecting live fish. If u want dead fish go at red tide [emoji3]

 

[Oddjob]

Jesus Christ; I get it, really do, work in Law enforcement internationally and have been all over. Sure of course you should verse your self in laws according to your hobby, but a shell law, who knew. My two younger ones like shells, they pick up hundreds. So what do they do if a 3 year old decides to pick one up and wants to keep it.

I mean heck if a north Texas yankee can find them then a toddler would have no trouble finding them.

 

[bravobob]

Growing up next to the Ocean here in So.Cal , We were taught in Grammar school to only take empty shells as souvenirs , gifts or for making crafts. To respect sea life. And. If your going to eat them , get a fishing license and know what/where/when you can take.

 

[dewcon4414]

Id say there is more to this story if the Lawyer could tell it. Collection method ... storage.... type..... number..... and she knew what she was looking for. She may well have done it before and was being watched by the FWC.

 

[diggummup]

Listen, she knew exactly what she was doing. I have lived here for 30+ years and you don't just see queen conch shells laying on the beach. She had to have removed from from either diving or snorkeling. It is a well known and publicized fact, especially in the "conch Republic" which is Key West, that harvesting live conch is illegal. Play stupid all you want Diana Fiscal-Gonzalez, if your that ignorant you need to be locked up. If stupidity were illegal. the streets would be clean.

There are signs posted on beaches throughout Florida regarding this.

I have a couple conch shells sitting on the back porch. They are huge compared to what she harvested. If she wanted conch shells for gifts, those little ones don't cost much at the local gift shop. Besides that 40 of them? Sounds like it was gonna be fiesta time in a Dallas barrio to me when she returned. If you can afford a trip to Key West, you should be able to afford a few shells from the local gift shop. I have no pity on her or any other "tourist" that comes here breaking the law.

 

[Blak bart]

I actively dive and sell shells here in the keys. You are allowed to collect 15 shells a day on your recreational fishing license. You may not possess a live queen conch as they are protected. You may collect the shell as long as the animal/conch is not in the shell. If you pick up a shell that has the telltale hole in it from removing the animal, then you could be charged with killing the animal and illegally harvesting the conch. I and another t-netter were stopped with about 20 shells this week, we had no problems and were allowed to keep all our shells including about 5 queen chonchs that were collected after the animal died. We also collected 4 horse conch wich were taken live, and a couple helmet chonchs and lots of sea biscuit shells I also got a rare cone shell. Ill post a pic of a horse conch I got thats 20 pounds. A real giant !! Im cleaning it now. Its good money with gem quality helmet chonchs bringing in 120$ each if there perfect. Ill get 60$ for the large horse conch and 20-40 for the smaller ones depending on condition. Its great side money and a lot of fun dragging behind the boat searching for them. Just hang on to the rope and let the boat pull you around until you see one. On a side note we saw many large mature and beautiful queen chonchs. So the conservation is working !!

 

[Blak bart]

She was not collecting them for the shell she was getting the meat wich is expensive. If she were collecting the shell she would not de knocking holes in them to get the chonch out. That hole destroys the shell somewhat. The meat is prized and a delicacy !! Sometimes they have pearls that are really rare and exspensive. I have eight chonch pearls that I have found over the years while free diving chonch in the bahamas where it is legal to harvest them

 

[Blak bart]

Big horse conch !! If you put them in an ice brine overnight the will often slide right out of the shell, but not always !! If they dont you must hang them and the shell will drop off. The animal is good eating if removed in the brine, but if you hang them they are good for bait only. All those shells you see in the shops are free dove up, cleaned, and sold to the shell shops by a guy like me. Its treasure hunting but for natural treasures.