Maybe what we need is a legislative lobby, contact the tobacco lobby , they
can do anything. on the serious side , we do need a voice where it counts ,
any volunteers? . .
As for what i wrote last week , it was intended to get both view points and
suggestions on "what can be done to help" but as usual it turned into a
fingerpointing and mud throwing event . Hey , I'm a BFT and it's easy to hit
me with mud , now that we've settled down , the question still needs to be
addressed , "What can be done to help ourselves and our hobby". When the
World Tuna fleet got flack and boycotts for the killing of Bi-catch animals
like dolphins the Tuna industry began a highly visible campaign of getting
divers in the water to free the trapped turtles and dolphins. the result , a
label that states "dolphin safe" . this boosted sales beyond the pre-boycott
levels. see there is a way for conservation to work but sometimes it does
take an effort. mark
-----Original Message-----
From: Kim C. Hutsell <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, December 02, 1998 6:22 PM
Subject: Re: Back to the Conservation Issue - Sanibel
 
 
>Just out of curiosity...why is it that the COA, the biggest mollusk
>oriented organization in the United States, is letting itself be
>legislated out of existance? I hear a lot about being blamed for declines
>in molluscan populations, but nothing about an active defense? Do we
>really want to go the same way as fresh-water mussel collectors and bird
>egg collectors?
>
>Specimens and data in old collections can be informative and fascinating
>but only tells us about the past. These tell us little about the present
>state of our environment if we can't get out and take new samples to
>study it.
>
>We continually sit by and let ourselves and our activities be blamed for
>anything and everything. We talk amongst ourselves, get each other all
>worked up, pat each other on the back because we all recognize the
>problems and, then, let it go.  It reminds me of bitching about being in
>a bad marriage, but being too lazy to do anything about it.
>
>I get so frustrated with some of the attitudes I encounter, I can hardly
>stand it. Mostly it's people who believe that they can go on about their
>business...collecting responsibly, or studying their clades, or drawing
>their trees, or writing their articles, or dealing their shells...and
>hoping someone else take care of defending their (our)
>hobby/avocation/profession. When are we going to wake up and pull our
>heads out of the sand? There ISN'T anyone else! We're it! And if we don't
>start standing up against bad legislation, we might as well start hunting
>plastic seashells in our bath tubs!
>
>Kim Hutsell
>San Diego
>
>Bobbi Cordy wrote:
>>
>> I stated several times that one of the big problems in FL is the
>> renourishment of beaches where hundreds of shells and being pumped out
>> of the ocean onto the beaches....well here is what was in yesterdays
>> paper:
>>
>> "Panama City Beach - A renourishment project is providing beachcombers
>> with a bonanza of shells of all kinds and calibers.
>> In addition, dredges are bringing up gun shells expended during military
>> training exercises in or over the Gulf of Mexico.
>> Beachcombers usually have to wait until low tides after storms to find
>> fresh seashells, but the dredging is providing them with relatively
>> untouched specimens in the sand being pumped from offshore to restore
>> severely eroded beaches.
>> The $21.5 million renourishment is about 40percent complete and on
>> schedule, said Rafael Castillo, a quality control official with Great
>> lakes Dredge and Dock Co. which has been doing the dredging work."
>> Florida Today, Tuesday, December 1, 1998.
>>
>> AND very soon the scientific shell collector will be told it is their
>> fault because the shells are gone.  What a crock!!!
>>
>> --
>> Jim and Bobbi Cordy
>> of Merritt Island, Florida.
>> Specializing in Self-Collected
>> Caribbean & Florida Shells
>