Keep up the petitioning!

Paul Stephens
Oregon Shell Club member

> On Dec 1, 2018, at 8:30 AM, Bert Bartleson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bert Bartleson <[log in to unmask]> 
> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2018 9:43 PM
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Collecting bans and permits
> 
> Dear all,  
> 
> Please consider carefully what you wish for before you get it.  In May 2010,
> the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife [WDFW] decided to ban
> all collecting of live animals unless you have "a Scientific Collector's
> Permit" [SCP].  This was an idea that the new director of WDFW had to
> preserve our state's resources.  It was promulgated as a regulation, without
> any input from the Pacific Northwest Shell Club [PNWSC] since WDFW did not
> recognize that we existed.  It was only when it was publicized in the local
> newspaper that I even found out about it.  When I contacted WDFW after the
> regulations were in effect, I found out that shell collector's without
> specific scientific credentials were not considered to have value or
> standing.  I have a master's degree in microbiology and have collected
> mollusks for most of my lifetime [over 50 years] but that's not valid. The
> regulations were written to address specific groups --[ colleges and
> universities doing directed research, field biologists doing studies, and
> fishery workers surveying fish, aquariums and museum collections].
> 
> The problems were that we were not written into the law and that to comply
> was expensive and time consuming.  Luckily, the decision was made that PNWSC
> would be granted a SCP, if we applied, even though we clearly don't seem to
> fit anywhere into the regulations.  We did so, but it costs $117.00 a year.
> We must produce "a study plan" and have it reviewed, revised and approved
> each year.  Then at the end of the year we must report our take - [all live
> animals collected, even if just to photograph them].  This is very time
> consuming and all animals must be identified and have locality as well as
> GPS data provided.  It all goes onto a spread sheet.  One spread sheet for
> marine and terrestrial mollusks and a different one for aquatic ones because
> different parts of WDFW want different information.
> 
> So here we are eight years later.  I still must do all of the same work each
> year.  One good thing is that dead shells are exempt.  But if they have
> hermit crabs in them you must report the take of the crabs.  One of the
> biggest challenges are micro shells.  The biologists complain if we do "weed
> washing" and collect 100 of a tiny snail species [ 6 mm. in length].  Why
> did we take so many, is the complaint?  I have explained multiple times that
> you need a microscope to identify the shells and that you never know how
> many of what you will collect ahead of time.  But each year I get a
> different person so must start again to explain the same message.  Another
> problem is that the state doesn't relinquish ownership of shells collected.
> So technically exchanges and donating mollusks to scientists for DNA studies
> are prohibited.
> 
> During this time PNWSC members have found at least four species of mollusks
> and one hermit crab that were not named.  Some are now described, and others
> are in process.  We have also discovered invasive species of mollusks.
> Without dedicated amateurs out in the intertidal, aquatic and terrestrial
> environments a lot can be missed because there are just not enough trained
> biologists to do all the work that needs to be done.  Most biologists
> working for WDFW are fishery or mammal specialists [for hunting].  Few know
> much about mollusks.
> 
> Someday I hope that the regulations will be revised and that some of the
> specific requirements can be relaxed or changed to make compliance easier
> and better.
> 
> Bert Bartleson, PNWSC
> Olympia, WA, USA
> 
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