The Protection of Fresh-Water Mussels

by R. E. Coker

[EXHAUSTIVE NATURE OF THE FISHERY.]

The necessity for imposing restrictions upon the size of mussels to be removed from the beds is brought out more clearly by the photographs than could be done by any lengthy discussion. All of the shells shown in plates [I] and [II] were actually taken for market, sold, and shipped to the factory. The smallest ones (in the three upper rows on [plate I)] were not wanted at any factory; they were bought only because the fishermen had thrown them into the piles along with the larger shells, "to add weight." Most of the very smallest shells, those under 1 inch in length, are subsequently lost in handling, by falling through the forks or otherwise wasting as they are thrown into the car or from the car to the bin. None of the shells in the three upper rows of [plate I] would ordinarily be used by any manufacturer. It is true that some of the shells shown [13]have had one blank cut out, and these were actually cut at a commercial plant, but the instance was a very rare one and was certainly unprofitable. Even if the manufacturer desired it, the cutters will not handle shells from which only one blank can be cut, since the waste of time outweighs the saving of material.

Plate I

SMALL SHELLS ACTUALLY MARKETED. ALL EXCEPT THOSE OF THE THREE LOWER ROWS SHOULD BE LEFT IN THE RIVERS.
[About one-half actual size, which is shown in inches at right of plate.]

Plate II

LARGER SHELLS MARKETED AND ADVANTAGEOUSLY USED.
[About one-half actual size, which is shown in inches at left of plate.]

Consequently all shells less than about 1½ inches in length, no matter what the quality, are thrown into the discard. There can be no difference of opinion as to the pure wastefulness of taking shells of this size.

The shells shown in the illustration are not the smallest that could be found. Some shells observed in the fishermen's boats were only one-half inch in the greatest diameter. Out of the water these are entirely without use. The fisherman who saves them, thinking that they add weight to his heap, would doubtless be surprised to learn that he would have to handle several times and clean 200 of such shells to add 1 cent to his earnings, for it would take nearly half a million of them to make 1 ton.