Dear Jenny,  You certain have a way with words.  I'm afraid I'm not as
proficient with words. You would make a great writer, if you are not
already writing.  Anyway, what I want to say is, all about data.  How
much data do you think is made up, and how much more will be made up if
the rules on what is acceptable is taken seriously.  I spend a lot of
time in searching for the correct data, especially from India.  Most of
the shells that come from there are brought up by fishing boats or Prawn
collecting boats.  I am always looking for a species that I haven't been
able to get from a certain area.  And when it comes in I feel like my
searching was not for nothing.  Of course I collect Marginellas
worldwide, and I did't think I would live long enough to see live taken
Marginella mosaica from S. Africa, but they finally came in.  Was I
excited. I have always been a collector first and a dealer second.  I
know things go on that I do not approve of.
 
Most of the deep water shells that come from Florida has been trawled by
fishing or scallop boats, or in the past the Blacks and Jim Moore with
out just for the shells.  Do you know what trawlers do to the bottom.
But these people are trying to make a living.  I have been out on the
boats when the Nets came in and all of that sea life hits the deck.
They pick out what they want and the rest goes overboard.  Do you think
the fish etc. that went overboard were still alive.  Of course not.  Are
the shells that I pick out of that mess acceptable to keep.  Are they
environmentally- friendly collected?  Well I kept them.  When I'm
snorkeling I am very selective, but in the boat situation, I had no
control.  If I saw a fish that was still flopping, I threw it overboard,
but I didn't touch the shrimp or scallops.  The scallop boats motor in
to the docks with more that just scallops, and I have picked a lot of
shells off of the conveyor belt that would have gone to the dump and
been buried.  I had 3 people pick 60 5 gal buckets of shells from the
scallop boats in one week.  I sorted and cleaned shells for a month.
They were all put to go use, whereas they would have been dumped.
 
 Are shells that are thrown up on the beach by a hurricane collectable.
I hope so.  Nature does 100 times more damage to the environment than we
will ever do.  Of course we shouldn't add to the damage, which one oil
spill will do.  I hope they never get to build oil rigs off of Florida.
It would be great for spondylus, but we get enough oil on our beaches
now.  I wasn't going to say anymore, but I couldn't resist.
 
Bob
 
 
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Bob & Betty Lipe mailto:[log in to unmask]
The Shell Store: http://theshellstore.com