A day of vacation on the beach becomes a total financial loss for a family. The children play in the sand and collect a few shells. In the end there is a fine for 81,000 euros.
The US local station “ABC 7” reports on an expensive beach trip. After a wonderful day at the beach in California, Charlotte Russ and her family suddenly face a fine of over 88,000 dollars, a good 81,000 euros. The reason for this was that her children collected 72 live seashells during the visit.
“I only noticed shortly before we left that my children were collecting live shells,” the mother told ABC 7. The misunderstanding led to the family being issued a ticket on the beach in the small town of Fresno. They later received a notice saying they would have to pay a fine of over $88,000.
The hefty fine is issued by the California Department of Fisheries to protect mussel biodiversity. Lieutenant Matthew Gil from the relevant department explained to the local station why the strict rules are necessary. If the mussels do not reach a size of at least eleven centimeters, they would not be able to reproduce and the population would be endangered.
After Russ explained the situation to a San Luis Obispo County judge, the fine was reduced to $500. To warn others about similar situations, she is now sharing her story. The mother learned her lesson and emphasized the importance of informing your children before visiting a beach.
Last year, a total of 58 tickets were issued for collecting protected shellfish in the county, according to ABC 7. Even though the matter ended up going well for the Russ family, the mother would have liked better information. She criticizes that the signs are easy to miss. Since the story, she has had a seashell tattoo, which she shows to ABC 7 with a laugh.
Shell collectors should always be aware of what they take with them from the beach. Lieutenant Gil from the fisheries inspectorate explains to “ABC 7”: “If you take the remains of dead sea animals with you, that’s okay. You can recognize living mussels by the fact that both mussel shells are firmly together. But collecting mussel shells can also be disastrous for your vacation budget.
For example, vacationers in Italy who are caught with shells or sand at the airport. The perpetrators face a fine of up to 9,300 euros. In general, holidaymakers should inform themselves about the regulations in their destination country. “Öko-Test” points out that the regulations vary from country to country. And there are also problems back in Germany if the souvenirs collected are protected species. The portal warns of a fine of up to 10,000 euros.
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