>Some species of astraea , phobia & tecta (or americana) have a numbers
>limit, I.E. 3 or 4 specimens per person per day and this is law all thu
>Florida. This is from the horses mouth; Florida Fish and Game .
>Personally I think a numbers band should be law for all species. We have all
>seen THESE certain type collectors who fill thier buckets with live
>specimens and have little reguard for the future stock . I'm rather sick and
>tierd of seeing "growth series".
>For those out there that say the numbers are not declining , whatever
>happened to terebra taurinum which at one time was common throughout
>florida, strombus gallus that was as common as alatus mitra florida , you
>never see these anymore, or cymatium parthenopeum or cittarium pica both at
>one time were as common as mud, futhermore not one of these species is
>commercially havested , the numbers were whiped out by collectors who had
>not restrictions . the real answer of course is self restraint but this idea
>is lost in the world we live in ,,,,,,ferreter
 
 
Haven't we been through this before? I don't agree that these species and
others were wiped out by collectors. That is too simple an answer. We need
to look at numerous reasons for declines - beach replenishment, noxious
discharges, long-term changes in weather patterns, etc. Cittarium pica has
been extripated from Florida and Bermuda, yet is abundant in the Bahamas and
elsewhere, despite being used for food. Are there less collectors in those
countries than in Florida? Something else happened to that species - not
collectors. Where is the evidence that Terebra taurus and Mitra florida were
once common? These are both offshore species, not likely to be
overcollected. If we looked at ALL species, including the microscopic and
non-desirable ones, we probably would see a similar decline. Focusing on a
few collectors' items as evidence of rape and pillaging by collectors, while
ignoring the other 99% of the species, seems unrealistic.
 
Oops, fell off the soapbox again.
 
 
 
*  G Thomas Watters               *
*  Ohio Biological Survey &       *
*  Aquatic Ecology Laboratory     *
*  Ohio State University          *
*  1315 Kinnear Rd.               *
*  Columbus, OH 43212 USA         *
*  v:614-292-6170 f:614-292-0181  *
 
"The world is my oyster, except for months with an "R" in them" - Firesign
Theater
 
"A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on" - William Burroughs