South Carolina Code 50-5-2305. Permit to remove live wild rock; penalty
(B) The department shall:
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 50-5-2305
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Department: means the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources unless otherwise stated. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
- Live rock: means living saltwater organisms or an assemblage of them attached to a hard substrate including dead coral or rock. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
- Person: means an individual, a partnership, a firm, a corporation, an association, or other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 50-21-10
- Take: means to harass intentionally, hunt, capture, gather, harvest, remove, catch, wound, or kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, gather, harvest, remove, catch, wound, or kill. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
- Trawling: means fishing with a trawl or having part of a trawl door in the water. See South Carolina Code 50-5-15
(1) facilitate the aquaculture of live rock in state waters;
(2) establish a permitting system to enable interested parties to establish live rock culture operations within state waters, including ocean waters from three nautical miles or less offshore; and
(3) promulgate regulations to guide the operation, maintenance, and harvesting activities of live rock culture operations.
(C) It is unlawful for a person to engage in a directed effort to catch, take, remove, or harvest wild live rock from state waters for the purposes of sale or trade. The incidental take of wild live rock during trawling operations and the taking of wild live rock washed ashore and deposited upon a beach or shoreface are activities which are exempt from these restrictions if these exempt activities are not a directed effort to take wild live rock.
(D) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days for the first offense, and fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, for each subsequent offense.