The California Department of Fish and Wildlife Agency has written to e-commerce company Etsy and notified them that the sale, possession, or transport of all species of marine macroalgae Caulerpa is now prohibited. In a letter written on Jan 2, 2024, the Department told the online retailer that a violation includes but is not limited to civil penalties of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation.
Eric Kord, Assistant Chief of the Marine Enforcement District, informed Etsy that the rules changed in 2023 from a previous ban on nine species of Caulerpa to all species, and that in a recent search, the Department had found Etsy offering Caulerpa for sale on its site, as well offering to transport it to customers within the State of California:
Etsy headquarters
Prohibition on Sale, Possession, or Transport of All Caulerpa species
Dear retailer,
This letter is to notify you that in 2023 the State of California amended California Fish and Game Code Section 2300 to now prohibit all species of Caulerpa as opposed to the nine species previously listed. This section prohibits the sale, possession, or transport of all species of Caulerpa in the state.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) is responsible for enforcement of this statute, which includes but is not limited to civil penalties up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation for the sale, possession or transport of Caulerpa in the state. In a recent search of your website, the department found that Caulerpa are available for sale and transport to California.
The department would like to work with you to reduce the sale or trade of all Caulerpa species from your website. Specifically, we request that vendors selling Caulerpa be made aware of the legal restrictions on the trade and that you monitor and /or restrict the sale of Caulerpa in the same manner used to restrict the sale of other prohibited goods on the site.
Eric Kord
Assistant Chief, Marine Enforcement District
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
There are in the region of 75 species of Caulerpa, many of which we find desirable and cultivate in our aquariums, either for aesthetic purposes or for nutrient control. But put the right marine alga in the wrong place and it can wreak havoc in non-native ecosystems, smothering native seaweeds and corals and proving damaging to some already threatened species of endemic marine life.
Caulerpa taxifolia was released into the Mediterranean Sea in 1984, and now it stretches across thousands of hectares of the Med from France to Croatia. It has also been found in California and New South Wales, Australia, since, but was thought to have been eradicated from Southern California in 2006. In 2021 Caulerpa prolifera was discovered in Southern California so in July 2023 Governor Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 655 (CA AB655) into law enacting a statewide ban on Caulerpa. The bill was introduced with the help of Orange County Coastkeeper and California Coastkeeper Alliance.
Under AB655, Californians are prohibited from selling, possessing, importing, transporting, transferring, releasing alive in the state, or giving away without consideration all saltwater algae of the genus Caulerpa, except that in possession for bona fide scientific research.
In September 2023 NOAA Fisheries was notified that an invasive algae species, Caulerpa prolifera, was discovered in Coronado Cays, San Diego County, California. Note that the law (and Assistant Chief of Enforcement Eric Kord,) both clearly state that not only is it now illegal to possess or sell Caulerpa in California, it’s illegal to even transport it. This will come as a blow to Californian macroalgae admirers and the aquatic retailers who may supply them. The ban is one-size-fits-all for all 75 species, but Caulerpa prolifera takes no prisoners, and for the sake of the aquatic flora and Fauna of America’s West Coast, California’s prohibition of all Caulerpa has been viewed as necessary by the State. By the looks of the above letter, they are actively enforcing the new law too.
Image credits: Josuevg, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons – Nanosanchez, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons – Coughdrop12, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons- Rachel Woodfield, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons – Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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