I can't resist putting in my 2 farthings worth here.  I'll have to side
with the pro-collecting faction on this one:  the amount of damage a
small dredge can do to most bottom types is miniscule by comparison to
the many other natural and man-made hazards communities on the ocean
floor normally face - and it must be born in mind that the number of
people doing this sort of activity in any area, is vanishingly small (as
opposed to,  say, the number of folks who are careless, often incredibly
so, with their motorboats and "personal water craft"!).   That said,
anyone considering dredging a locality should carefully consider whether
or not the bottom type they intend to sample is slow-healing (ie,
"sensitive"), - does it contain any corals, for example?  I have found
that shallow-water "grassy" habitats usually recover after a couple of
years - in the meantime, the small-scale variation in topology created
by a couple of dredge passes may even provide a home for some organisms
that require these disturbed areas to live in! (much the same way that
deer and other "browsers" thrive in cleared or otherwise disturbed areas
of a forest (when they are not sprayed with chemicals, ie!).
                  Mary Canada <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

The laws that govern Brazil and its natural resources are not the same
as the laws that govern wetlands in the United States.  Most wetlands
are fragile ecosystems and any change or damage to them is closely
regulated by many government agencies.  Prop scars from motorized boats
remain for years and years.  Fragile systems may never recover.
Dredging is dredging...no matter the size of dredge used.  If the soft
bottom or hard bottom is protected, this protection applies to
individuals as well as corporations.  Many areas in Florida have some
measure of legal protection in place to prevent destruction of species
as well as habitat.  There are laws requiring scanning for artifacts
before disturbance of certain areas.  My suggestion is that any person
considering dredging in Florida should be aware of any laws that may or
may notapply to their operation.  And if they feel that no laws apply to
their actions,then they should, at the very least, consider any
potential damages to Santa Rosa Sound.  Also, is this individual
considering the use of the dredge to simply expedite his search for
shells while vacationing in this area?

Santa Rosa Sound contains some of the few remaining viable beds of
seagrasses in the Pensacola Bay System.  Thalassia (turtle grass) is
present in this area and will suffer serious damage if it is dredged.

Marcus Coltro wrote:

> We have been dredging for many years in Brazil, and thanks to that we found
> many new species for science. If you ever dived you will know that the sea
> bottom isn't a "calm" place and after a hurricane the bottom changes a lot
> (ask to someone who dived after Andrew's Hurricane in Florida...). Of course