Florida Administrative Code › 68 - FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION › 68E - Marine Resources › Chapter 68E-1 - MARINE TURTLE PERMITS › Section 68E-1.002 - Introduction, Scope and Definitions

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1)
				Florida Statutes restrict the take, possession, disturbance, mutilation,
				destruction, selling, transference, molestation, and harassment of marine
				turtles, nests, or eggs. Protection is also afforded to marine turtle habitat.
				A specific authorization from Commission staff is required to conduct
				scientific, conservation, or educational activities that directly involve
				marine turtles in or collected from Florida, their nests, hatchlings or parts
				thereof, regardless of the applicant's possession of any federal permit. The
				authorization may be in the form of a conservation permit, a loan agreement, or
				a consent permit, as described in Rule
				68E-1.0041, F.A.C.
(2) Whenever the Commission determines that a
				request to conduct research, conservation, or educational activities with
				marine turtles, their nests, or hatchlings is in the public interest and will
				advance marine turtle recovery or protect marine turtles, their nests, or
				habitat, it shall issue authorizations, upon such terms, conditions, or
				restrictions as are necessary to ensure that the intentions of Sections
				379.2431(1)(c) and
				(d), F.S., are not violated.
(3) Under agreement with the federal
				government, the issuance of a permit or other authorization by the Commission
				may satisfy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit requirements for research,
				conservation, or educational activities involving Florida marine turtles. An
				additional permit from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
				Administration might be required for in-water work.
(4) Permits may not be issued for head
				starting, the practice of collecting marine turtle eggs or hatchlings solely
				for the purpose of raising them until they attain a larger size and then
				releasing them.
(5) For the
				purposes of this rule, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Applicant" means the individual, firm or
				corporation who applies for a Marine Turtle Permit from the
				Commission.
(b) "Authorized
				personnel" means all individuals listed under a permit holder, named on their
				permit, and who are authorized to conduct marine turtle conservation activities
				at the direction of the permit holder or the lead qualified
				individual.
(c) "Conservation
				purpose" means an act carried out solely for the purpose of maintaining life or
				habitat of any marine turtle, their nests, hatchlings, or promoting the
				recovery of marine turtle populations.
(d) "Educational facility" means public or
				non-public colleges or universities, or nature centers, museums, zoos, aquaria,
				or similar institutions. Educational facilities must be regularly opened to the
				public for the primary purpose of providing an educational
				experience.
(e) "Educational
				purpose" means to hold marine turtles to exhibit, inform and instruct the
				public in their biology, habitat, or conservation needs.
(f) "Handbook" means the FWC Marine Turtle
				Conservation Handbook.
(g)
				"Hatchery" means an area of beach where authorized individuals have placed
				marine turtle nests in aggregated clusters in one location, with or without
				restraining or protective walls.
(h) "Hatchling" means any species of marine
				turtle, within or outside of a nest, that has recently hatched from an
				egg.
(i) "Marine turtle" means any
				marine-dwelling reptile of the families Cheloniidae or Dermochelyidae found in
				Florida waters or using the beach as nesting habitat, including the species:
Caretta caretta
(loggerhead turtle),
Chelonia
				mydas
(green turtle),
Dermochelys coriacea
(leatherback turtle),
Eretmochelys imbricata
(hawksbill
				turtle), and
Lepidochelys kempii
(Kemp's ridley turtle) or
				hybrids of these species. For purposes of this rule, marine turtle is
				synonymous with sea turtle.
(j)
				"Monitoring" means either gathering information using a predetermined sampling
				plan to collect baseline information on marine turtle distributions, nesting,
				and productivity or assessing impacts from a state-authorized activity as
				required by a state or federal regulatory permit.
(k) "Nest" means an area where marine turtle
				eggs have been naturally deposited or subsequently relocated.
(l) "Nest relocation" means the practice of
				collecting eggs or excavating a nest following deposition and reburying all
				intact eggs.
(m) "Permit Holder"
				means the individual, firm or corporation authorized to conduct marine turtle
				conservation activities under the provisions of this chapter.
(n) "Prudent peer review standards" means
				criteria or processes arising from scientific methods established or generally
				accepted by the scientific community to evaluate deductive models, experiments,
				research proposals, and results that are directed toward the validation of
				hypotheses or advancement of scientific knowledge.
(o) "Qualified individual" means the
				individual who has been approved by FWC as having the appropriate experience
				and knowledge as specified in this chapter for the authorized
				activity.
(p) "Regulatory permit or
				authorization" means a permit, water quality certificate, or authorization
				issued pursuant to Chapter 161 or 373, F.S.
(q) "Scientific purpose" means for the
				purposes of conducting research or analysis using prudent experimental
				protocols to gain scientific knowledge and to advance conservation, population
				management, or biological understanding of marine turtles.
(r) "Scientific research" means an activity
				that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures
				of observation, measurement, and experiment to obtain reliable and pertinent
				data.
(s) "Special Activity
				License" or "SAL" means a license issued pursuant to Chapter 68B-8,
				F.A.C.