Getting too excited with the Boletus edulis has a price: the fine for collecting more than two kilos of mushrooms per person, the limit stipulated by the Decree that regulates the mycological activity, is of 100 to 1,000 Euro. The Decree was published in the DOG on May 27 this year, so this is the first mushroom season that it is being applied.
"It's already in force so the Forestry agents, the Regional Police and the Civil Guard are authorized to fine people", confirmed the council. The most common infringements are exceeding the two-kilo limit per person and day allowed by the standard, collecting mushrooms that are too immature or that are beginning to spoil, and collecting them in closed bags, such as plastic bags.
Once the mushrooms are collected, they release spores that give origin to new specimens. Thus they need to be transported in baskets or in other containers that allow said spores to fall freely.
The Board won't provide data about the reports practised until the end of the season, but they have confirmed that they have already started fining people. One of the sanctions imposed this year was in the county of Vega, which had its own set of rules that will most probably need to be adapted to the regional decree. The man that was fined was caught collecting mushrooms in a plastic bag and didn't have the permission required by the council.
The law provides for fines between 100 and 1,000 Euro, but the most serious recidivism can be fined up to 10,000 Euro.
Source: La Voz de Galicia