Don,

It was the lease owners of the Island (Australian).
They had plenty of collected beach shells on display in the resort but their rule was nothing to be taken from the Island!

You can't actually catch fish or lobster from the island, you have to travel by boat to another island/ reef to do that. I did see the local school teacher catching squid with a jig at night, RULE BREAKER! Ha! The owners son is a big fish nut and had pics and various trophies, all caught in the open sea's a few Km's from the island. Heard rumours that local reef sharks were freaking out the high paying older snorkelling tourists so they culled them. If this is true, a little bit of double standards!

Nice island, quite pristine, but quite remote and expensive. We'd never go again.
I saw giant helmets crawling on the sand while snorkelling on the reef (a real buzz!) and took some pics but I kept the fresh dead mappa I found at 4m (stealth! My one lil shell souvenior & memory!). The beach shells were left!

I always respect the cites rules and only take a few shells anyhow.
It was a bad experience and anywhere we go now we check thorughly regarding the rules!

Should concentrate on all the abalone & trocus shell poachers!


Regards,
Simon

PS. Malaysia (Sabah) was a great place... they have marine reserves but outside these had no problem collecting a few live & dead shells!

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Very Interesting.  I just read up on Bokissa, sounds like a beautiful
place.  You can hike through the jungle, catch fish from shore or
from a boat (not catch and release), and they encourage you to catch
your own lobster for dinner.  Just don't pick up dead shells off the
beach, eh?

I could be wrong, but I'd guess you weren't challenged by a local.
I have been challenged on South Pacific beaches about a dozen
times, although I wouldn't have gone to any place that called itself
an "Eco Island" simply because I would figure it's strictly managed
by foreigners with their own "laws."   I've been challenged by two
Americans, one Australian, one guy from England, and about eight
or nine New Zealanders.  The Americans explained to me how it
was morally wrong, the Aussie told me I needed a permit, the Brit
told me I'd be arrested when I tried to board the plane with shells,
and the Kiwis told me it was absolutely illegal, without exception.
If you try to tell them you know the local laws, and are complying
with them, a few will back off, but some will try to make your life
difficult.  It's probably better to keep a low profile, just to avoid
the hassle, and familiarize yourself with the real laws before you
go to one of the islands to collect shells.  Very few of the island
countries have strict collection rules, and most of them only con-
cern the commercial species (Charonia tritonis, Cassis cornuta,
Trochus niloticus, Turbo marmoratus,and the Tridacna species).
By the way, T. marmoratus is "protected" in many island countries
where the species has never been found, I assume because some
of the countries simply copied the laws of other Pacific nations?

Cheers,



Don

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