Sea shells on the sea shore

[cruisegal415]

(Cross posted from St. Martin thread)

I love to look for and collect sea shells on the beaches.  When I tried to take some large conch shells back to the boat from the private island once on RCL, I was told it was not allowed to remove them from the beach.  Has anyone tried to take smaller shells that are found on the beaches? Is it allowed? I know it is not legal to take live shells, but I'm talking about the little, smaller shells that are usually found on beaches.

[blue_water]

The only place I have seen this enforced is in state parks like Trunk Bay, STJ…
Obviously you do not want to remove coral from any water…