>Just one idea as to why this would not work:  the lost revenues to the states
>which allow commercial musseling would severely curtail the research and
>preservation of these animals.  Properly managed commercial activities provide
>several benefits to mussels overall.  Also, the species which are sensitive or
>endangered are generally not suitable for commercial purposes.
 
I have to disagree on both points. States such as Ohio, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia have no commercial collecting, but
have thriving research and survey projects. The states which allow
commercial collecting, and should be getting those revenues, certainly do
not seem to be any better off.
 
Commercial collectors want shells with thick, white nacre. Many state and
federally endangered mussels fit this description, and have been found in
commercial catches: Lampsilis higginsi, all Plethobasus, Cyprogenia
stegaria, Pleurobema plenum, Pleurobema cordatum, etc. The species of choice
for commercial use, Megalonaias nervosa, is endangered in Ohio. I have on my
desk a valve of Plethobasus striatus, a nearly extinct species, with several
large holes cut out of it for buttons.
 
Commercial clamming does provide revenue, and supports many families. The
same can be said for cocaine production in Colombia, harvesting whales off
Iceland, or strip-mining the Appalachians.
 
Ouch! I just fell off my soapbox...
 
*  G Thomas Watters               *
*  Ohio Biological Survey &       *
*  Aquatic Ecology Laboratory     *
*  Ohio State University          *
*  1315 Kinnear Rd.               *
*  Columbus, OH 43212 USA         *
*  v:614-292-6170 f:614-292-0181  *
 
"The world is my oyster, except for months with an "R" in them" - Firesign
Theater
 
"A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on" - William Burroughs