As a frequent visitor to Cedar Key I have seen the same thing.  About
four years ago our club observed a couple collecting every Busycon
sinistrum in sight and putting them in the trunk of their car.  Their car
was certainly loaded down and the local B. sinistrum (AKA B. contrarium)
population was decimated. We can only assume that they were selling them
to shell stores where they would be used for craft or tourist items - not an
uncommon ending for this species.
 
If you have been to Cedar Key recently, you have probably noticed that some
of the
formerly common species (B. sinistrum among others) are are not as
common as they formerly were.
 
Shell collectors (scientific and otherwise) can certainly have an effect on
local
populations - in the short term.  I am sure that the species would rebound
over
time - but still  - how many years would it take?  These guys are "crawl
away."
 
Bill Frank
1865 Debutante Dr.
Jacksonville, FL 32246-8645
Phone/FAX: (904) 724-5326
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Original Message-----
From: Scott Schubbe <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, November 25, 1998 9:26 PM
Subject: Re: Sanibel
 
 
>     I can relate to Martin's story. Not all that far from the south side
of
>the Sunshine Skyway where he is talking about, I monitor the population of
>breeding and egg-laying of large (16 inch) Busycon contrarium, during the
>winter low tides.
>One day, I found an extra-large specimen I decided to take after the egg
>laying was over with. I had seen hundreds of the large females, that take
up
>to ten years to get that large, without taking one. I was waiting for that
>"special one."
>     As I was making my way back to my truck, I noticed some guy with a
gunny
>sack filled with at least 20 of them. I asked him what he was doing with
all
>of those, and he said he was taking them home to boil out to "edge his
>garden." He said he had gotten about that many every day for the past week.
>When I asked him if he knew it took 10 years for them to get that big, and
>they were egg- laying females, he got very upset. He asked what was I doing
>with mine, and lying, I said I was out of work, and needed to feed my
family.
>He got very quiet, and handed me his bag to "help feed us."
>      As soon as he drove away, I went out to deeper water and put them all
>back. We both did a good thing that day. Another time, I saw a different
guy
>with 5 washtubs inside inner-tubes, tied together and floating along behind
>him as he had them filled with the B. contrarium. He wouldn't even give me
the
>time of day, except to say "I've got a fishing license." He must've had 200
of
>them.
>      People don't realize once these females don't lay eggs there, no
>offspring can return to lay eggs there either. They must think these
mollusks
>are just rocks with slime in them to get rid of, and make pretty garden
>borders.
>       In this case, over collecting can easily affect an area within
years.
>Obviously ignorance can play a large role, but 99 percent of the time I
vote
>for pollution as the cause, or sometimes when species are absent from an
area
>that seems healthy, maybe just the plain course of nature itself to rotate
>species within our environment.
>       Looking to the future, I'll bet global warming will have even more
>species moving into northern habitats. Or might that be a little bit of
what
>we are just discussing/figuring out now?
>
>Scott
>Tampa