As a hobbyist papermaker, I’m currently trying to find a place near me where I can collect the alga Codium fragile. I was recommended iNaturalist as a resource for this by a friend, and while it certainly seems like it will be useful for that purpose, it feels a bit weird to come on to a site like this, find an observation, and comment “Hey, was there a bunch of this there? Because I could really use a couple pounds dry-weight of this stuff!”
I’m not particularly concerned with the ethics of collecting Codium specifically- among other things, it’s both extremely prolific and invasive in my area (east cost US)- but it would make sense to me if there were community guidelines on the subject, or even if it were entirely prohibited. I was unable to find any such guidelines, but given my general mediocrity at internet searching and the sheer volume of both synonyms for and alternate meanings of ‘collection’, I don’t feel comfortable enough to move on without making more of an effort to find out.
I don’t think there is an official position that iNat takes on general *legal* collection of abundant species, but, on the whole the community is pretty against using iNat as a tool to do that. iNat is meant to be a method of getting people connected with nature, documenting the natural world, and assisting in research and conservation. Using iNat as a tool for finding places to collect is kind of against the foundational principles of the platform.
There is also the issue of collection, even done legally, having impacts on other species and the local environment.
iNat takes the environmental protection side of things pretty seriously, hence the automatic obscuring of threatened and endangered species and the like.
At the same time, if the species in question is an invasive species, don’t iNat records already potentially get used for targeting invasive species that need removal? It’s not the same thing, but feels a lot more similar than referring to threatened and endangered species.
I mean… I certainly use iNat to track morel season in my area…
If you know what you’re doing and are mindful of local/state/fed laws, then yes please remove invasive species.
I think it’d be great if there was a formal set of guidelines for foraging, but I can see the process of drafting them being fraught and never-ending. Foraging gets a lot of people into nature in a positive way, but it also gets a lot of dummies out there doing dumb stuff. A lot of pro-science/conservation people are avid foragers and do it responsibly, but there’s a substantial chunk of foragers who couldn’t care less about any of that and are fairly destructive. Just join a foraging facebook group or two and you’ll see some things that will turn your stomach…
But one coastal paper-maker using iNaturalist to literally fight the tide of an invasive seaweed is a very delightful thought to me.
I think the issue is not so much about using iNaturalist in particular, since there would be other ways to locate most species if iNaturalist didn’t exist.
The issue instead is doing your collection legally (with required permits and notifications) and ethically (without impacting viability of populations of any native species affected by the collection activity).
As a curator who deals with conduct moderation on iNat, the way I see this handled is usually by warning the user that collecting is not what iNat is for, with account suspension limited to cases where warnings are ignored, or where the entire reason for the person being on iNat is collecting, or where the person is poatching
However, the cases I’ve seen have generally been native animals, so I’m not sure if there is an issue with invasives, and even with natives there is only an issue if you are asking for info or coordinating transactions on iNat, just looking at the publicly visible map to find stuff is fine (but still do it legally, many parks have collecting restrictions that do not distinguish native and invasive)
In Cape Town we remove invasive water hyacinth from wetlands and rivers. HUGE amount of biomass. We also have biocontrol options.
Local project turns it into biochar as a soil amendment to add to sandy soil and grow vegetables. Could just as easily reroute some of that harvest to a papermaker. (I used the clean wastepaper from our library when I made paper)
iNaturalist having a rule against using the data to find collecting localities would be completely moot – no way to know if you do it, no way to enforce it we did. So there isn’t a rule.
In my opinion, the relevant question is, what is right? Removing an invasive plant or algal species? Go for it! Yes! (Assuming it isn’t against the law or against the rules of the landowner.) Collecting native plants or algae? Follow local laws and the landowners’ rules. Then, collect only small amounts and only if that won’t harm the population. Collecting vertebrates tends to be more wrapped up in rules and laws. Insects are treated more like plants.
If the observer is concerned about people collecting the organisms, making the location “obscure” is a good option. (Making the location “private” is a terrible option, since then we don’t even know what continent the observation is from unless the observer comments, which the observer rarely does because usually he doesn’t understand that and does mistake “private” as meaning “on private land.” Sorry rant of an often frustrated identifier.)
Thank you for asking this question before just going ahead and doing it! Sorry I can’t answer it, beyond what others have said. While you are out foraging, please do make observations of the seaweed, the things you find in it, and other organisms you encounter on your forays. You just might find yourself in the throes of another hobby.
Also, you might be interested in some of the art-related forum topics, which you can find by searching for “art” or “artist.”
I recommend contacting the department of natural resources in that area. They may know what the legalities are, where removal would be most helpful, where or if there are groups or organizations that would be helpful.
Yes, good point about the spores! Even if you leave the plant where you pulled it up, you might be contaminating your clothing with spores. Japanese climbing fern (which I’m sure you are familiar with since you are in Houston) is all over the Big Thicket, but I don’t travel outside the area so I don’t think I need to worry too much about spreading the spores. However there are probably lots of people who come from outside the area and walk on it on hiking trails and then go home without cleaning their shoes. Japanese climbing fern is problematic because it can help fires spread up into the canopy. Breaking the “vine” off at the ground and then pulling the rest out of the tree is helpful even if you aren’t getting rid of the species.
I also pull up Chinese tallow seedling. They are much harder to kill once they get established.
Japanese climbing fern is problematic because it can help fires spread up into the canopy. Breaking the “vine” off at the ground and then pulling the rest out of the tree is helpful even if you aren’t getting rid of the species.