Dear Collectors,

Marcus Coltro wisely wrote,
> The only thing I can advise collectors is to keep accurate records of
> shell collecting and to keep their shells for future generations since
> it will the only way people will know how beautiful these animals were
> once.

> We keep records of all our trips, and we advise all new collectors how
> important is to save these information and never let other people say
> collectors are destroying our environment - you may say we are keeping
> knowledge for those who won't have a chance to see live shells on the
> beach...

This is not a new situation for collectors in general, and shell collectors
should learn from the past experience of collectors of other kinds of
beautiful natural objects.

BIRDS. No one collects birds or eggs anymore without a permit in North
America, and these are not issued to fill individuals' cabinets. Although
we're not there yet, it's obvious that the trend is toward less collection
in other groups as well.

More than a hundred years ago in eastern North America, the passenger pigeon
fell into a steep decline and went from being "innumerable" to endangered
within a mere decade, although the last one did not die for some time after
that. Efforts to save the species were half-hearted at the state level (laws
that were passed too late and never enforced) and ineffective at the
individual level (the most determined breeder learned too late that the
nesting adults needed earthworms to supplement their diet of beechnuts). The
loss of such abundant species as the passenger pigeon and bison did
eventually encourage conservation of other species, sometimes with
successful results.

BUTTERFLIES. It is still legal to collect butterflies in most of the U.S.,
but some species are in steep decline and a fierce debate is going on among
lepidopterists about collecting in general. Many feel that this is the time
to switch from collecting (except in a very limited way for scientific
purposes) to observation and photography. Alteration of habitats and
spraying of pesticides seem to be the main causes for the decline of
butterflies. In New England, widepsread spraying of forests to control the
destructive, introduced gypsy moth probably harmed other species as well.
However, in one horrific case, collectors wiped out the last remaining
populations of an endangered species (Mitchell's Satyr) in New Jersey simply
by collecting every adult they saw. They had to trespass, cross a fence, and
evade a guard and dogs to accomplish this toward the end. It is irritating
to realize that this very human case will always get more attention than the
much more pervasive problems of climate change, habitat destruction, and
indiscriminate use of pesticides. The worst actions of a few collectors will
be blamed on all of us.

(continued in next message)

Andrew K. Rindsberg

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