Divers explore the reefs off South Florida for octocorals, and transport them to aquarium supply shops and private customers all over the world. Octocorals are very popular in reef aquariums, because they bring diversity to the environment.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 62 commercial harvesters landed octocorals last year; the number of harvesters is capped at 167.

Currently, there is a 50,000 colony quota in place for federal waters, the measure used in keeping track of how much is harvested, and no quota for state waters. The FWC is considering a quota of 70,000 colonies for state and federal waters combined. The FWC staff working on the proposal will present recommendations to June 8 and 9.

Michael Helmholtz, who works as a gorgorian collector at the Florida Marine Life Collectors, argues that with an estimated 8 billion to 28.8 billion octocoral colonies in the Florida Keys alone, the supply of octocoral cannot be exhausted.

A final public hearing will be held in September at the FWC meeting in Naples, after which the agreed-upon harvest quota will take effect.