The existance of deep-sea reefs is fairly widely known, but the extent of damage being caused by fisheries is only now being recognized, in part because it is a fairly new phenomenon.  Only with widespread use of equipment able to reach deep water and destroy coral has this become an issue.  The collapse of shallow-water fisheries has also been a factor in promoting exploitation of the deeper waters.

I would guess that, with the fisheries mainly aiming at fish, that the nets would rarely catch benthic mollusks.  They have caught a fair number of Architeuthis, but those don't make many shell dealer's lists.   However, I do think that many of the exotic deep-water shells are from some sort of fishery and do not know if there is much known about the effects.  It can be difficult to locate a pristine part of the seabed for comparison with damaged areas to measure the impact.  Heavily fished areas show extensive disturbance of the seafloor.

Perhaps someone could try to make a campaign similar to the "dolphin-safe" tuna.  Orange roughie, for example, would get the "Coral reefs were destroyed to catch this fish" sticker.

    Dr. David Campbell
    "Old Seashells"
    Biology Department
    Saint Mary's College of Maryland
    18952 E. Fisher Road
    St. Mary's City, MD  20686-3001 USA
    [log in to unmask], 301 862-0372 Fax: 301 862-0996
"Mollusks murmured 'Morning!'.  And salmon chanted 'Evening!'."-Frank Muir, Oh My Word!