I would like to point out what appears to be a CITES "bug".

In my collection I have a Litophaga litophaga, a shell from Mediterranean.
It is an edible species and it was available in all the best fish
restaurants. A restaurant indeed, is the source of the specimen in my
collection.
Few years ago the species has been added to the CITES list, and now it
cannot be sold and collected any longer.

This is a strange situation that CITES burocrates seem not to have taken in
consideration when designining CITES laws. What happens if someone got a
specimen when it was legal to get it, and later the species is added to the
CITES list?

My possession of this specimen has now become illegal, but apparently I have
no way to regularize my position.
A question to the contact list shown in the Cites webpage got unanswered.
I asked two friends working one for the Italian and another for the Austrian
forest ranger service.
One of them told me that one must regularize his possession within twenty
days after a species is added to the CITES list! And this requires the
payment of a fee too. Trying to regularize now could mean to risk a
confiscation, but much depends on the officer in service that day.
The other one recommended me not to ask any regularization.

Did anybody from European Union find himself in the same situation, and
could explain me what to do in such cases?

I apologise not to sign with my real name, but according to the European
CITES laws I am a dangerous criminal who risks some thousand Euro fines and
even imprisonement. I hope you will understand.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------