Dear Bert,
   It was great to meet you at the Penrose Point St. Pk. PNWSC field
trip. Despite the weather, I had a great time at the beach, in the
woods, and meeting and chatting with the shell club members.
   Regarding the ban on live invertebrate collecting, well, museum
curators need to try to keep above board, so I am interested in trying
to (retroactively) get the proper collecting permits. Do you have
contact information for whom I would contact about getting a general
collecting permit for Washington State, and also one for Penrose Point
State Park?
   Thank you,   -Tim-

P.S. I haven't had a chance to look at my photos from the trip yet, but
if any turned out well, I plan to share them.

Timothy A. Pearce, Ph.D., Asst. Curator & Head, Section of Mollusks
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080, USA
ph 412-622-1916; fax 412-622-8837; [log in to unmask]
www.carnegiemnh.org/mollusks/index.htm
"The views, opinions, and judgments expressed in this message are solely
those of the author. The message contents have not been reviewed or
approved by Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh."

Date:    Fri, 4 Jun 2010 20:13:40 -0700
From:    Bert Bartleson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Ban on collecting live shells in Washington State

Hi Conchlers, I'm the bearer of bad news today.  The Washington State
Department of Fish and Wildlife [WDFW] has banned the collecting of all
live
"Unclassified invertebrates".  This means that all gastropods and
chitons as
well as all terrestrial and freshwater mollusks are now protected from
being
collected within the state. In addition sea stars and shore crabs are
protected along with all manner of other invertebrates as well.

Dead shells [defined as "relic shells"] can be collected up to five
pounds a
day.  However if they have hermit crabs inside the shells then they
wouldn't
be allowed to be collected unless the hermit abandoned the shell.

Bivalve mollusks [which are classified under WDFW regulations] can still
be
collected with a valid Washington State Shellfish License and within
daily
bag limits. This ban took effect on May 1, 2010 and was passed without
much
input from the public.  The WDFW Director requested the ban to protect
the
resource since very little study has occurred identifying a reasonable
amount of the resource that could be taken without deleterious effects
occurring in the marine environment. Other resources governed by WDFW
regulations and laws have suffered greatly in the past and have had the
populations plummet from over harvesting [for example: abalone, salmon,
rock
fish and shrimp].

If you are planning a trip to Washington State to collect shells this
summer
you might want to consider changing your plans.  If you have specific
questions I will try to answer them.  Bert Bartleson, President, Pacific
Northwest Shell Club

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