Busted!!! For Illegal Live Rock Collection/Sales

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

Dale Barger of Florida Live Rock got off easy IMO.
Future prosecutions are rumored to get harsher and harsher.
https://www.fws.gov/le/pdf/01-17-2018-barger-sentencing.doc

Do your part folks... buy AQUACULTURED live rock from places like TampaBaySaltwater and KP Aquatics. You get all the same benefits but it's not harming the reef.

I've seen these operations first hand. They're legit.

Dry rock about to go in...

And here it is a few months later...

sfin52 · Feb 7, 2018

That’s sad. So how can I tell at my lfs if it is legit or not. They mark the fish as t/r ic tank raised.

ourcoralreef · Feb 7, 2018

He made $$ on the deal was fined $35,000 for 15,000 pounds of live rock thats $2.33 a pound he made a killing on this deal

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

ourcoralreef said:
He made $$ on the deal was fined $35,000 for 15,000 pounds of live rock thats $2.33 a pound he made a killing on this deal

That was only the last 7 months!!!
That's all the hard evidence the feds had on him.
Think of all the money made over the past 20 or more years.

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

sfin52 said:
That’s sad. So how can I tell at my lfs if it is legit or not. They mark the fish as t/r ic tank raised.

There's really only TBS and KP Aquatics that are currently culturing florida live rock legally. So if they say they have florida live rock, ask who they got it from.
But your LFS is probably bringing in boat rock or air freight rock from fiji or something. It's basically dead rock by the time they get it.

ourcoralreef · Feb 7, 2018

This is what gives our industry a bad name

Justfebreezeit · Feb 7, 2018

d2mini said:
There's really only TBS and KP Aquatics that are currently culturing florida live rock legally. So if they say they have florida live rock, ask who they got it from.
But your LFS is probably bringing in boat rock or air freight rock from fiji or something. It's basically dead rock by the time they get it.

Arcreef.com as well

samnaz · Feb 7, 2018

Glad he’s busted but he got off way too easy. Think of how much money he’s made over the years... That’s how much his fine should be. At least. What a jerk.

cracker · Feb 7, 2018

Tbs & other legit sellers of live rock have to go thru a lot of legalities to get a license in Florida state waters. It's mind boggling ! I know that if it sits on the floor of Florida waters it's hands off. You can suspend it though. From private dock or such. If interested google Florida fish & game commission . Other states laws vary but Florida is very strict on this.

Gregory Stephens · Feb 8, 2018

I looked at suspending some base rock for my tank. I decided to take the long path and go with dry rock. I don't want to import any problems.

mcarroll · Feb 8, 2018

d2mini said:
It's basically dead rock by the time they get it.

Dead is dead.

No comparrison if you've ever seen normal dry-shipped* live rock – which is not dead.

The main thing missing compared to bag wet live rock like we are promoting in this thread is the quantity of macro-life.

(* Stupid name for that packing style since "dry-shipped" is actually wet wrapped in wet newspaper then shipped. There are almost always a few worms crabs and other things still crawling around when it gets unwrapped.)

d2mini · Feb 8, 2018

Justfebreezeit said:
Arcreef.com as well

Are you 100% sure about that?

LbulletM · Feb 8, 2018

Is this the same as GulfLiveRock?

don_chuwish · Feb 8, 2018

d2mini said:
Are you 100% sure about that?

It would be nice to get some independent verification but their website sure tells a good story.

VR28man · Feb 8, 2018

d2mini said:
Are you 100% sure about that?

Yeah, as sure as the other two. Not actually having seen anyone’s permits (or an audit thereof), there may be more for all i know.

https://arcreef.com/about/

Btw, what was the busted guy’s website ?

d2mini · Feb 8, 2018

don_chuwish said:
It would be nice to get some independent verification but their website sure tells a good story.

Time will tell and reveal all! We'll see who's left standing in the end.
Dale was the first to be prosecuted. You can bet there will be more to come. The hammer is coming down.

Justfebreezeit · Feb 8, 2018

Yea the link above has their permit number and licenses posted.

d2mini · Feb 8, 2018

VR28man said:
Yeah, as sure as the other two. Not actually having seen anyone’s permits (or an audit thereof), there may be more for all i know.

https://arcreef.com/about/

Btw, what was the busted guy’s website ?

Just because you have permit/lease, doesn't mean you are necessarily using the lease (placing your own dry rock there to be seeded and sold later) when there is a bunch of "free" real live rock just sitting a few miles away.
I'm not pointing fingers but think about that. The feds will find out exactly what's going on.
Remember, its not a permit to harvest live rock. That has been banned. It has to be aquacultured.

http://www.floridaliverock.com/