Shelling on Florida's East Coast

Collecting empty shells on Florida's Atlantic coast beaches is legal without a license, but taking any shell with a living animal inside requires an FWC recreational saltwater fishing license, even from shore.

FWC frames the rule around what is inside the shell: recreational collection is allowed depending on whether the shell holds a living organism, what that organism is, and where it is collected (FWC sea shell collecting). The saltwater license itself is defined to cover saltwater organisms other than non-living seashells, so a beachcomber picking up empty shells needs no license (FWC licenses). Shells holding live animals cannot be sold unless the seller has a commercial saltwater products license.

The Florida rule visitors hear about most does not apply on the Atlantic side. F.A.C. chapter 68B-26 is titled Southwest Florida Shells (F.A.C. 68B-26), and its operative rule, effective September 1, 2013, bans the harvest of live shellfish in Lee County and restricts it in Manatee County (Rule 68B-26.004). FWC sets those as no live shells except oysters, hard clams, sunray venus clams and coquinas in Lee County, and no more than two live shells, including echinoderms such as sand dollars and starfish, of any single species a day in Manatee County, with the same four exceptions (FWC). East coast counties fall under the statewide license rule instead.

A few statewide Florida limits still apply on every coast: all harvest of the Bahama starfish is prohibited, possessing a live queen conch is prohibited at any time, and an empty queen conch shell is legal only if it held no living conch when collected and no living conch was killed, mutilated or removed from it before collection (FWC). The marine life (tropical ornamental) bag is 20 organisms per person per day with no more than five of any one species, and FWC notes that state or federal parks, national wildlife refuges and parts of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary may limit or ban collecting.

FWC describes coquina clams in the swash zone of sandy beaches and pen shells washing up after high winds, while horse conchs, lightning whelks and tulips live in seagrass beds, sandy sediments and flats.

Coquina clams live buried just under the sand in the wave-swept swash zone of Florida's sandy beaches, are known for their highly variable colors, and feed fish, crabs and shorebirds (FWC coquina clams). Pen shells, thin fan-shaped bivalves up to 10 inches, are often found washed up on local beaches after periods of high winds and wave action (FWC pen shells).

The horse conch is the largest univalve snail in U.S. waters and the Florida state shell, growing to 24 inches with bright orange flesh (FWC sea snails). Florida law named it in s. 15.033 under the scientific name Pleuroploca gigantea (s. 15.033, F.S.), while FWC uses Triplofusus giganteus. The lightning whelk, up to 16 inches, is identified by a left-handed opening, and the Florida fighting conch is the species FWC describes washing onto Gulf Coast beaches by the hundreds after intense winds or wave action (FWC).

The Anastasia Formation, made primarily of quartz sand and seashells cemented together, runs from St. Johns County to Palm Beach County along Florida's Atlantic coast, and its shell rock is called coquina (DEP Florida Geological Survey).

The Florida Geological Survey dates the formation to 83,000 to 118,000 years ago, during the last interglacial period, when sea level stood 5 to 7 meters higher than today (DEP FGS). It extends inland up to 20 miles, underlies the Atlantic Coastal Ridge in that area, is up to 100 feet thick in places, and was named in 1912 by Elias Howard Sellards, the first State Geologist of Florida. The FGS calls the coquina of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine an example of the Anastasia Formation, soft enough to quarry easily and durable enough for construction.

The National Park Service adds that the Anastasia Formation is the only formally named geologic unit at Canaveral National Seashore, that it formed where sand grains and shell fragments cemented together on ancient beaches, and that Anastasia coquina built Fort Matanzas north of the seashore (NPS geodiversity atlas).

Canaveral National Seashore in Volusia and Brevard counties protects 24 miles of barrier island, and its Playalinda, Klondike and Apollo beaches form the longest stretch of undeveloped beach on Florida's east coast (NPS).

The seashore was established on January 3, 1975, and covers about 57,662 acres between New Smyrna Beach and Kennedy Space Center; Mosquito Lagoon, part of the Indian River Lagoon, makes up about two-thirds of it (NPS geodiversity atlas). Its highest point is Turtle Mound, a 35-foot mound of oyster shells built by native peoples between 800 and 1400 AD.

Entry costs $25 per private vehicle for seven consecutive days, $15 per person for walkers and cyclists 16 and older, or $45 for an annual pass, and the Apollo and Playalinda entrance stations take only credit or debit cards (NPS fees). The Apollo Beach entrance station is at 7611 S. Atlantic Ave., New Smyrna Beach. FWC notes that harvest of certain species may be limited or prohibited in federal parks and tells collectors to contact those park areas for details (FWC).

Beach nourishment replaces eroded beach sand with sand from an outside source, FWC explains (FWC), and DEP reports more than 269 miles of Florida's 458 miles of critically eroded beaches have been restored and maintained this way (DEP Beaches Funding Program).

DEP's Beach Management Funding Assistance Program grants local governments up to 75 percent of project costs in its program summary, while its eligibility section says up to 50 percent for beach projects and up to 75 percent for inlet projects; projects must be on the Gulf of America, Atlantic Ocean or Straits of Florida, accessible to the public and on a beach DEP designates as critically eroded (DEP). The Local Government Funding Request for fiscal year 2027-28 was available from June 1 to July 31, 2026.

FWC considers coquina clams an indicator species for beach habitat. From 2005 to 2008, scientists with the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and Florida Institute of Technology sampled nourished and un-nourished beaches in Indian River County on the east coast and Pinellas County on the west coast, counting coquina clams and mole crabs in the swash zone (FWC coquina clams). FWC says managers regulate the timing and location of sand placement based on biological considerations, including how indicator species such as coquina clams are affected by nourishment.

Sea turtle nesting season runs from March 1 to October 31 in Brevard through Broward counties (FWC beach cleaning guidelines), and it is illegal to harm or disturb nesting sea turtles, their nests or eggs (FWC).

FWC says sea turtles typically return to nest in March on the southeast Atlantic coast from Brevard County south to Broward County, while nesting starts in April or May on Gulf and north Florida beaches (FWC, March 17, 2026). Elsewhere in Florida the formal season starts May 1 (FWC). FWC's tips for beachgoers include giving nesting turtles space, since getting within 50 feet or less can cause them to leave the beach before nesting is complete, filling in human-made holes in the sand, and removing beach toys, gear and furniture before sunset (FWC).

FWC defines nesting habitat on the beach as extending from the high tide line to the top of the dune or seawall (FWC). FWC asks the public to report sick, injured, entangled or dead sea turtles to its Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) (FWC).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) website, with geology and park details checked on the DEP and National Park Service websites.