Free Bimacs Anyone? (You gotta hike and Search for them though)
 

hey, i noticed awhile ago, that people were looking for bimac octopi, and if i'm assuming correctly, and bimacs are the california two spotted octopus then i find them alot when i go to tidepools around redondo beach, today i found five! well actually one was the size of a penny, but just wanted to let anyone who's interested know.

PS: I can't do any shipping, delivery or any of that crud, srry! :(

The fines in California can be pretty steep for taking octopus without a permit.

Roy

oh! thanks for the warning! good thing i didn't get any of them!

okay, so if you have a permit, yeah...

okay, ignore this thread, don't take octopi from the tidepools without a permit!

LOL! No officer, thats not my octopi :D

officer... I SWEAR it followed me home

Here is what yo do:

Officer: "Hey, you can't collect octopus in tidepools!"

You: "I'm not officer, these are pet octopus of mine that I bring down to the beach once a week to let them go for a swim"

Officer: "Oh sure - this I gotta see!"

You: <dumping your bucket out into the water> "Go for a swim my little pets!"

Officer: "Yeah, but what do you do to get your octopus back in the bucket?"

You: "Octopus?, what octopus?"

LOL

haha, i've heard that one with lobster collecting, but in all seriousness don't do it, i think this thread should be deleted!

It is possible to collect bimacs legally, but there are some caveats.

Section 8597(b) of California Fish and Game Code lists the species of marine organisms that may be taken under the authority of a marine aquaria collector's permit.

Specifically, Section 8597(b)(2)(H) states that all species of octopus may be taken EXCEPT [i]O. bimaculatus[/i] and [i]O. maculoides[/i][sic].

What this means is it is illegal to collect either species of bimac to sell for the aquarium hobby. Although bimacs aren't threatened, this decision was made consciously to avoid a situation in the future if keeping cephalopods in glass boxes ever took off to the same degree as, say, keeping clownfish in glass boxes.

However, the California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations (Section 29.10) allows any octopus to be taken on hook and line or by hand with a valid fishing license. As long as you're not collecting for "trade" I don't think there's a legal or moral impediment to collecting a bimac to keep in your own aquarium.

This is precisely why you won't find bimacs on any distribution lists at your LFS. Don't bother asking.

People have gotten away with selling bimacs by catching one around egg-laying season and then selling the offspring. The animals that are sold weren't collected from wild but rather hatched in captivity, and the mother was brought in under the auspices of the sport fishing license.

Dan

Can't Bimacs also be found on the Pac side of Baja?

Yes, but I imagine there's some real hoops to jump through for importing them. Raising hatchlings is probably an easier undertaking.