Continuing with the discussion, we are close to reach the  point of
"Seashells commerce, yes or no".

As far as I know, many shells (the most valued) are collected alive and
therefore we receive them as G / w.o.  Maybe not in the same amounts as
Shellcraft is collected, and we can believe that serious collectors and
dealers do it based upon an environmental respect.

Although, on the other hand, the only way for many people to know the marine
life, is to see it in public/or private collections. Is it a good way to
help next generations learning the value of  nature?

Should we ban any sort of commerce, or only that one injuring tropical
habitats due to overexploitation?



Greetings

Ignacio L. Sánchez
Madrid Spain





>From: Cristian Ruiz Altaba <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Conchologists List <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Rapidly developing danger GLOBALLY
>Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 10:38:17 +0200
>
>
>Dear friends, Yes, here in Mallorca we have people making a living by
>selling nature away.  Huge buses filled to the roof with tourists pour into
>shell stores, where all merchandise comes from the Philippines or who knows
>where.  At crowded beaches, sellers provide the same stuff, more or less
>transformed into series-B handcrafts.   What kind of trade can be
>sustainable if the end buyer pays just a few euros for large, long-lived,
>live-taken shells?  Or just a few cents for a handful of smaller specimens?
>What are we doing wrong, so that it is now fashionable to decorate
>urinaries and toilets with such corpses?  What the hell lies in the gobbled
>mind of a disoriented tourist who buys a shark-teeth necklace in the
>Mediterranean? I myself collect mollusks, and study the stomach contents of
>sharks, but have no intention or understanding of such wanton destruction
>for commercial purposes.  Furthermore, I work hard on trying to educate
>people about the value of nature.  If it depended on me alone, you can take
>for granted all such traffic would be banned for good.
> Cristian R. Altaba
>Department of the Environment, Palma de Mallorca
>
>-----Conchologists List <[log in to unmask]> escribió: -----
>
>Para: [log in to unmask]
>De: Richard Parker <[log in to unmask]>
>Enviado por: Conchologists List <[log in to unmask]>
>Fecha: 31/03/2007  08:53
>Asunto: Re: Rapidly developing danger to Indo-Pacific reefs - and now,
>         America
>
>Henk - believe it or not, I think exactly as you do. For the past few
>years, I've been making a living of sorts by selling bits & pieces to
>tourists (in Majorca). They love sharks teeth pendants, so I provided them.
>
>What was happening, worldwide, to sharks didn't occur to me at all, until
>the prices suddenly started to rise. (I live about 100 miles from Leyte
>Gulf, the site of the greatest naval battle of all time, where, according
>to the propaganda, hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans were lost in
>WWII 'in shark-infested waters')
>
>From 'shark-infestation' to a complete collapse in just 60 years is
>something we should worry about. Not that we can do much about it - in the
>same period the rising Chinese demand for sharkfin soup has left
>thousands, if not millions of finless, helpless sharks to be left as
>living corpses in the ocean.
>
>--------------------------
>Chinese use of rhino horn, tigers testicles etc
>
>- When I first came here, people would come to me and plead for money to
>buy medicine for their children, and I would listen, and help if I could.
>
>Then I began to realise they were buying Amoxycillin, or some other
>patented antibiotic, to cure a cough or a cold. Use of any antibiotic
>medicine eventually results in antibiotic-resistant strains of germs, and
>that makes things worse in the long run.
>
>Now, I tell them they should go out and find the herb that their
>grandparents would have used with complete success.
>
>But they`re ashamed to do that, because it's not 'progress'
>
>If some very rich Chinese billionaire (there are very few of them) thinks
>he needs the essence of tiger's testicles to boost his long lost virility,
>shouldn't we send out some "Environmental Attack Teams" to stuff some
>Viagra or Cialis down his throat?
>
>
>regards
>
>Richard
>
>
>On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:04:05 +0300, mienis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >Richard, it is a pity for you, but I don't think that sharks are swimming
> >around in Philippine waters for the one and only purpose: a cheap source
>for
> >expensive sharkteeth necklaces, which will be sold to Spanish tourists.
> >What is your opinion about rhino's being illegaly killed in Africa solely
> >for their horns being turned into a Chinese traditional medicine, or the
> >testicles of tigers are being powdered into a wonder remedy for human
> >potency, etc.etc. I don't think that sharks, rhino's, tigers, and
>numerous
> >other animals are living on earth solely for being exploited in one way
>or
> >another by human beings.
> >Best regards,
> >Henk K. Mienis
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Richard Parker" <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 8:19 AM
> >Subject: Re: Rapidly developing danger to Indo-Pacific reefs - and now,
> >America
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Ross - as a follow-up to my stuff about top predators take a look at
>this:
> >>
> >> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070330/ap_on_sc/sharks_shellfish_5
> >>
> >> We've just about eliminated sharks around here. Shark teeth, that I
>used
> >> to make into pendants for Spanish tourists, now cost six times what
>they
> >> used to about 5 years ago. I can't make a profit from them anymore, so
>I
> >> use 40My old fossil ones from NY state instead.
> >>
> >> The world is going to hell in a basket.
> >>
> >> regards
> >>
> >> Richard Parker
> >> Siargao Island, The Philippines.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
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