Matt Blaine wrote:

>  I am wondering if there is a national law banning dredging enacted by The Republic of Panama, or if it is a local restriction? If anyone knows if there is an actual law on the books, I would appreciate that information.

* I've been repeatedly struck by the way restrictions and changes in
regulations for collecting are enacted by the regulating agencies
without any attempt to communicate with those who might be affected,
either before or after the new regulations are passed.

Even when you're a leading researcher in the area and on the taxon
regulated, and have shared your information on the taxon with the agency
for years, they let you wait until they hear of an infraction you've
committed under the new regulations, or you learn of them by accident,
before telling you about them.

I notice that on highways they post the actual speed limit, not signs
that say "Speed limits may apply to this road, contact your local
Ministry of Highways office to learn how speed limits may have changed
since last year."

How much would it cost a regulating agency to maintain a list of all
internet forums where the regulated taxon is discussed, and to post
proposed and enacted changes in regulations to such forums?

This is an international list-serve for for conchology: when was the
last time a regulating agency itself posted a proposed or enacted change
in shell-collecting regulations here?

fred.
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          Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
Bishops Mills Natural History Centre - http://pinicola.ca/bmnhc.htm
Thirty Years Later Expedition - http://pinicola.ca/thirty/
Longterm ecological monitoring - http://fragileinheritance.ca/
Portraits of light - http://www.aletakarstad.com/
Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills - http://pinicola.ca/mudpup1.htm
     RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0
   on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
    (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
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