Environmentally friendly sea shell collections available for purchase?

[winstonlove2005]

Hello,  
I am wary of purchasing shells from dealers or gift shops because I have no idea how the vendor has procured the specimens they are selling.  I'm only interested in purchasing sea shells that have been collected using "environmentally friendly" methods. I don't want to support a business/person that is harvesting these beautiful creatures without regard to the impact this activity has on the ocean's ecosystems and on the species themselves.

Is there a list of 'environmentally conscious' vendors available on this website, or on a similar website?  Or, is there a way that vendors denote which specimens were harvested alive vs. found after natural death has occurred?

[paul monfils]

Most shells sold by vendors are live-collected because these are the shells that are in the best condition, and that is what most collectors want. Sometimes you will see a shell offered as "fresh dead". This means that the shell was washed up on the beach live, but died there with the animal still in it, and is in near perfect condition. But once a dead shell has been on the beach or in shallow water for a while, it deteriorates rapidly, becoming scratched and chipped as it is tossed about by the waves, and faded due to the bleaching effect of sunlight.  Occasionally a dealer will offer a dead collected shell of a rare species that simply isn't available in live-collected condition.  But no specimen shell vendor offers dead collected shells of common species, simply because almost no-one wants them.

Personally I don't believe that taking of shells for collections has any appreciable effect on the environment. I am a specimen shell dealer, and as such I do collect some shells in greater quantity than the average collector might.  Still, if I go down to a rocky shore and take 50 live Nucella off the rocks, the fact that I could easily find 50 of them is an indication that there are certainly thousands of them nearby, and the loss of 50 isn't going to produce any significant effect on the population. If I collect 50 live Mercenaria or Pecten (which will probably last me a year or more), seafood stores in the vicinity are selling thousands of these per week, yet the populations remain healthy. I am very environmentally conscious in my collecting. If I turn over a rock to see what might be underneath, I always replace it in its original position. If I find any trash, I pick it up and put it in my bucket. I avoid any activity that could negatively impact the ecosystem. But shell collecting is not such an activity.  <span class="petit">--Last edited by Paul Monfils on 2008-07-09 19:22:58 --</span>

[christy]

Hi Paul,

I am new to the board & find it a very interesting site !

Just a query though in regard to your

"Occasionally a dealer will offer a dead collected shell of a rare species that simply isn't available in live-collected condition.  But no specimen shell vendor offers dead collected shells of common species, simply because almost no-one wants them" comment.

If this is the case why then when people offer old collections for sale there seem to be a number of people interested in them?

A second question if I may, & I am a beginner to shell collecting so excuse any ignorance in my question, but how do you know where shells originated from if they came to you from an estate you know nothing about ?

I received a box of old shells & artefacts, including glass negatives, many years ago. One of the glass negatives shows a "Chief from the Gold Coast" [Africa] [or was it the Ivory Coast - right now I can't recall].  Would the accompanying jewellery, carved shell objects & negatives be enough to verify their country of origin ??

Grateful for any help here.

Cheers,
Christy

[christy]

P.S. omitted to place a ? beside the last posting.

Also, when activating my details through my email Norton Antispam flashed on with a big red SUSPICIOUS SITE overhead banner........can anyone explain why this would occur for this site ?

Christy

[winstonlove2005]

Thank you for your time and response, Paul.  I definitely enjoy collecting shells on my own and that makes it even more special when I find a great specimen.  Too bad I live in N. Texas!  I have a lot of fossilized echinderms and gastropods from around here...

[paul monfils]

Hi Christy,

Welcome to the site.

The fact that a collection is "old" doesn't mean that the shells in the collection are not of good quality.  The shells most collectors are not interested in are those which were washed up on the beach, chipped and scratched by rolling aropund in the sand, dulled and bleached by the sun. These would not be of interest to most collectors, regardless of whether they were from an old collection, or collected just yesterday.  However, nice "specimen quality" shells that were collected fresh will retain their color and beauty for a long time if stored properly.  These would be of interest whether from an old collection, or collected more recently.

If shells came to you without accompanying locality data, there is really no way to tell exactly where the shells were collected. Serious collectors emphasize accurate locality data, as they want their collection to have scientific as well as aesthetic value. The general locality (as opposed to specific locality) however can be determined by identifying the species of shell, because different molluscs, just like different mammals or birds, live in different parts of the world - Some species in the Caribbean, some in the Mediterranean, some in the North Atlantic, etc. Some species have a very large geographic range, so the best you could do for locality might be "Indo-Pacific Region". Others have a much smaller range, such as  "southern Japan" or "southeastern United States" while a few species have a very restricted range, such as "Hawaii" or "Easter Island".  So, if you post a picture of a shell on this site, we can tell you its name (usually), and its general geographic range, but not anything more specific than that.  <span class="petit">--Last edited by Paul Monfils on 2008-07-28 18:15:49 --</span>

[david touitou]

Hello all,

I agree with Paul. Always keep in mind that collecting seashells has not a huge impact on these shell populations <u>IF</u> one cares about what you call "environmentally friendly methods".
<u>That is right </u>that if the one who pick up the shells leave the flipped dead coral plates upside down, all the prolific sealife which lives under the plate (or rock) will dye rapidly. Damaging the habitat of shells is what causes the disparition of shells.

It is true too, that overcollecting on a same area can also decrease the shell population but if the habitat is not destroyed, it shall not be extinct. Especially when shells can
be found in a small area and cannot hide like sand dwellers.
I eard of people collecting hundreds of Cone shells in a small area by night. Actually the spot does hot host anymore the shells. Shells needs a minimum of adult specimens to breed though to produce minimum eggs that will produce minimum larvae etc... that will produce a few adult shells.

Picking up juvenile shells is a shame too.

In the Philippines over collecting is not a good thing as some spots are overcollected night and day. Though using dynamite is the fact that causes really the decrease of shell populations (and all other animals).

Bye
DAVID  <span class="petit">--Last edited by David Touitou on 2008-08-02 09:50:28 --</span>