Nope, not banned yet.  The Kiwis that live there would
have already banned collecting, and will happily tell you
that it is illegal to collect there.  In fact, it's only illegal to
collect Charonia tritonis, and undersize tridacnids.  I think
Trochus niloticus is another species that is regulated there,
but I've never seen any in Tonga anyway.  And you can
buy Charonia tritonis in any of the shops, and fresh Tridacna
in the market.  To be technically legal, you have to have a
permit from Fisheries to take the shells out of Tonga, no
matter whether you collected them or not.  The permit
costs 3 pa'anga.  That's about one U.S. dollar.  If you
have a lot of stuff that you obviously collected and didn't
buy, you will be reprimanded by the guys at Fisheries for
collecting the shells and not buying them from the shops.
If you have some shells or other souvenirs with you that
you obviously bought, it makes your permitting easier.  It
doesn't make the guy type any faster, though.

Good luck,



Don

----- Original Message -----
From: "Geoff Macaulay" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: trip


> Dear Harold
> I think you will find collecting is totally banned in Tonga by royal
decree.
> Where in Australia are you going?
> Regards
> Geoff
>