Harmful Effects of the Seashell Trade
Walking along the seashore you can’t help but be mesmerized by the delicate seashells that wash up on shore. These shells have been seen a treasure for centuries, used as decoration and currency by many cultures. Unfortunately, the vast collection rates and unethical standards of harvesting by the seashell trade industry have put many mollusk species and communities as a whole in danger. Mollusks are being overexploited at alarming rates, in ways that are both unsustainable and unethical.
Most of the shells that come from the seashell trade are harvested at astronomical levels, with just one factory collecting 30-100 tons of shells EVERY MONTH. These heaps of shells (and living mollusks) are stored in warehouses as far as the eye can see. To be able to bring in this many shells many shell fishermen use fishing techniques that are very harmful to the environment. One technique used is very similar to bottom trawling, in which a large net is dragged along the seafloor to collect live mollusks. This practice crushes any living habitat that it comes across its path, rips up substrate, and smothers other marine species.
In addition to the detrimental practices of collection, upon removal the live animals are often dried out on beaches before they are dunked in large vats of oil, acid, or both for hours to finish killing the animal living inside. Once the animal has been killed, the shell is scraped of any remaining flesh and then often soaked in the oil/acid again. After they have been cleaned, they are distributed to local tourist shops or sold abroad.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) requires permits and special permissions for collection of certain protected species, and other countries have even implemented their own policies. However, it is an industry that is very hard to monitor and enforce, so many marine species continue to suffer. Even with these policies put into place mollusk shells are one of the most heavily confiscated wildlife products found at the US port of entry.
Some of the main areas seashells are imported from include India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Caribbean. Identifying mollusk species is one of the main challenges when it comes to monitoring international trade. The other main challenge is reducing the demand for these seashells. For demand to decrease, consumers need to be aware of the dangers of overexploiting mollusks.
Many mollusk species play valuable roles in their communities and if more are collected from a certain environment than is sustainable that environment and its ecosystem suffer. There’s a huge difference when it comes to picking up one empty shell, and bringing in thousands of shells. Many experts consider mollusks to be an indicator of overall ecosystem health, and if to many are collected the ecosystem as a whole suffers.
When buying seashell products, it’s important to know where they come from and how they were collected to ensure you are not promoting unethical and harmful practices.
How we collect our seashells:
We take our social responsibility very seriously. We are well aware of the harmful effects of the seashell trade mentioned above. This is why we ONLY use seashells we have personally collected ourselves. We Never collect live mollusks. WE collect our seashells on a very small scale so as not to disrupt any natural environment. We also mainly collect broken or fragmented pieces of shells that would not be able to be reused as a home for crustaceans. So, rest assure we are not out stealing any homes from marine life. Many of these shells would be turned over back into the sand. We aim to bring awareness to this underrepresented species and other marine species so together we can help make a difference.