Also I didn't think ricordia was a stony coral ???
Man caused $78,000 damage stealing coral from sanctuary
BY NICK BATTY
Citizen Staff
A Miami man who harvested and sold stony coral from a Florida Keys sanctuary was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 months in prison followed by a year of probation.
Alexandre Alvarenga-Freire, 40, was caught in January in his 34-foot sailboat at a Cudjoe Key marina with more than 400 specimens of Ricordia florida, a Caribbean stony coral prized for its beauty in fish tank displays.
The Global Positioning System on Alvarenga-Freire's boat and flyovers by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement plane confirmed the coral was harvested in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary waters east of Cudjoe Key, according to a Department of Justice press release.
Alvarenga-Freire had been under surveillance since November, when two Germans who were nabbed at Miami International Airport trying to export the coral gave authorities his name.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association estimated the cost of restoring the coral and repairing the damage to the seabed caused by its removal would be about $78,000.
State and federal regulations govern the harvest and sale of living coral like Ricordia florida, which appears to be readily available via the Internet. Federal regulations prohibit the "harvesting, or attempting to harvest, any live rock from the sanctuary, or possessing (regardless of where taken from) any live rock within the sanctuary, except as authorized by a permit."
Florida statutes also require the seller of saltwater marine-related wildlife to hold a state wholesale and retail license. Alvarenga-Freire held "none of the required permits or licenses to engage in these activities," the Department of Justice press release said.
nbatty@keysnews.com
Man caused $78,000 damage stealing coral from sanctuary
BY NICK BATTY
Citizen Staff
A Miami man who harvested and sold stony coral from a Florida Keys sanctuary was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 months in prison followed by a year of probation.
Alexandre Alvarenga-Freire, 40, was caught in January in his 34-foot sailboat at a Cudjoe Key marina with more than 400 specimens of Ricordia florida, a Caribbean stony coral prized for its beauty in fish tank displays.
The Global Positioning System on Alvarenga-Freire's boat and flyovers by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement plane confirmed the coral was harvested in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary waters east of Cudjoe Key, according to a Department of Justice press release.
Alvarenga-Freire had been under surveillance since November, when two Germans who were nabbed at Miami International Airport trying to export the coral gave authorities his name.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association estimated the cost of restoring the coral and repairing the damage to the seabed caused by its removal would be about $78,000.
State and federal regulations govern the harvest and sale of living coral like Ricordia florida, which appears to be readily available via the Internet. Federal regulations prohibit the "harvesting, or attempting to harvest, any live rock from the sanctuary, or possessing (regardless of where taken from) any live rock within the sanctuary, except as authorized by a permit."
Florida statutes also require the seller of saltwater marine-related wildlife to hold a state wholesale and retail license. Alvarenga-Freire held "none of the required permits or licenses to engage in these activities," the Department of Justice press release said.
nbatty@keysnews.com
