wrote:
Does anyone see a moral issue because I make my living chipping
gorgonians, recordias and snails by the bucketfull from the Keys to
pay my mortgage?

Definitely not in a marine sanctuary.

Also, you may want to check florida laws on collecting. You can't
harvest any rock and there are limits on size, quantity etc of fish,
sponges, and corals.

I think the limits are set up more to allow research and personal
collecting, but they would make paying your mortgage hard unless you
collect breed stock and then figure out how to culture them on your own.

Keep in mind these reefs are fragile and under a lot of pressure.
Without some serious changes most reefs are going to disappear by 2050,
so please act responsibly.

--Kurt