Considering the short period of time you have to work with, I would not try
to be so formal. What I would do is three fold. 1. record and/ or collect
everything you can at all levels of the beach with as much "background"
information as possible, feeding, mating, eating or being eaten by, etc.
conditions of the water, the bottom, etc.  2. I would informally contact the
fishermen you know asking them to spread the word to others that you
(depending on how yu want to handle this part of the project) want them to
collect & bring to you / or note numbers only by specie/ or just keep notes
on relationships between shells brought in and the environmental factors
they might take notice of and how those factors seem to affect quantities.
3. I am sure that there is some marine authority in your country, who keeps
track of the stats. on what is caught and how much. Contact them for data on
previous years, maybe going back 5-10. Then after you have all the data from
the field that you can get, I would compare it to the data from the
authority or agency. After coming up with your own findings, I would then
call the agency back, ask if they would also look at what you have done and
advise if you have possibly overlooked anything important. I would stay away
from the media unless you are willing to deal with either being ignored or
overwhelmed by their attentions. Finally, run your results by the list and
let's see what crops up!  Good Luck- sounds like an interesting project and
potentially very useful!
-----Original Message-----
From: Eddie Clamp <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, July 15, 2000 12:13 PM
Subject: Shell survey around my home village


>I live in Selsey, Sussex, England.  Our home juts into the Solent towards
>the Isle of Wight. One suspects the sea around out peninsular is becoming
>ever increasingly polluted. Although I have lived in this area since 1959 I
>have never collected shells here.
>
>I have a break from school for six weeks and intend during this time to
take
>walks along the shore at low tide to collect and assess what shells life
>there remains. I also know a number of the local fishermen who go to sea
>daily for lobsters and crabs. I know from experience that they pick up
>various shells in their pots. They also spend a lot of time, when the
>fishing is poor, doing "Whelkers", collecting and selling whelks - Buccinum
>Undatum. The question I have to ask is: has anyone done anything like this
>before in their local vicinity? If so would appreciate a little advice on
>what to send to the local media and what to provide to the  fishermen in
the
>way of instructions etc, who obviously have their own livings to make and
>would be doing this as an enormous favour.
>
>Ed Clamp