Dear Sam, Toni, John and others who have expressed a similar view,

Thanks for your participation.  I hope you are all enjoying this exchange as
much as I am.  Believe it or not, many of the contributors’ comments are
changing my views.

John commented “those who detract what I do for inspiration.”  I hope you do
not place me in that camp.  None of my comments indicated “do not collect
shells.”  The point of my comments has been responsible collecting to
preserve the diminishing, easily accessible shell resource.  Nothing in the
rules for collecting I suggested indicates: "do not collect dead shells.”
And, my collecting rules allow collecting live shells washed up on the beach
that are almost certain to be eaten by predators or die. (Rule #3 - Collect
live material only in limited numbers, only when known to be very plentiful,
only from artificial habitats where they would not otherwise exist, or in
circumstances where the certainty is high they will die or be destroyed in
the very near future.)

Surely, your love of shells extends to a motivation to preserve the very
thing that is your inspiration.  I’ve agreed with you and others that “Bans
are not the solution, except in the most extreme circumstances. The win-win
for shell collectors is collecting limit restrictions - season limits and
bag limits that have worked so well for fishing, hunting and taking
Crustaceans.”

Are your positions “no restrictions” and “no responsible approaches to shell
collecting” whatsoever; or, can you support the idea that some restrictions
are appropriate (self-imposed or laws you could support in threatened
areas)?  If the latter, then what do you suggest as alternatives to the 10
rules I suggested?

Marlo
merritt island, fl
________________________________________
From: Conchologists List On Behalf Of John Timmerman
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 10:52 AM

Maybe a bit of a tangent, but here goes.

Mollusk shells are calcium carbonate.  Carbon dioxide is one
of the green-house gases.  Carbon in mollusk shells is unavailable to the
environment.
Shell collectors by the very act of amassing and preserving shells in
collections remove and prevent carbon from returning to the environment.
Thus they are helping mitigate the proliferation of one of the byproducts of
burning fossil fuels.
Conclusion. Should not those who would outlaw the collecting of shells dead
or alive be then be seen as  detractors to the health of the planet as well?

I fully agree with Tom and others that shell collecting inspires (me) the
very way that art does. It is a pursuit that makes our journey through this
life so much more enjoyable.
I do propose the above line of thought to those who detract what I do for
inspiration.
 John Timmerman

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------