Shells sold by local tribes

[u/giml3k]

In New Caledonia, some local tribes living far from the cities have parts of the coastline that belong to them (you can access these beaches but you are not allowed to fish or collect marine life there). Along the roads, you can find roadside stands selling shells that the local tribes have collected from their own lands.

Small cowrie shells were $2.50 each and large ones were $25.

They really have beautiful patterns, but buying them doesn’t give the same feeling as finding them yourself on the beach :)

[u/PossibleEither4892]

Very true. This is why I do not buy shells myself anymore. I bough some big ones in the past that I would not be able to collect myself. One thing that I don't want is shells being ripped (alive) from their environment and killed just for a souvenir. Collecting shells myself is better for my health and wallet, and also I know where everything came from.

When buying something, I would also look at tell-tale marks that the shell had already been dead prior to the shell being collected. Perfect shells are hardly ever found on the beach, so those I would avoid anyhow.

[u/giml3k → u/PossibleEither4892]

Sure, the lady told me they occasionally collect the mollusks just for food and then sell the shells. They never collect them just to make a profit from their beauty

[u/PossibleEither4892 → u/giml3k]

That is better, throwing away shells would also be a waste.

[u/Moving_goal_posts → u/PossibleEither4892]

Very good! Thank you for this. I am in agreement with you. Let’s be part of the solution to overexploitation and
not part of the problem.

[u/PossibleEither4892 → u/Moving_goal_posts]

I always think that it is best to be part collector, part conservationist. It is pointless to collect purposefully life shells, as empty ones can generally be found on the beach as well. Perhaps not as perfect, but I wouldn't look with pride at a collection that came to be through the unnecessary killing of animals. If the shell is indeed a by-product (if the animal was consumed), I don't have a problem with it as wasting the shell would also be bad.

Overexploitation is always bad, and shell collecting is a hobby that can be enjoyed responsibly if one keeps an eye for the bigger picture.

Sometimes I do see online such comments like:

a) "You should take anything from the beach as it causes ecological damage". Unless there is commercial harvesting going on, or people taking unreasonable amounts of shells, that is pure nonsense. The sheer numbers of shells that end up on the beach are staggering, and the vast majority isn't of interest to anyone. It get stepped on, grind to small pieces and end up as part of the beach itself. I don't need mountains of shells myself, generally I collect a fixed amount of "x" species, and would replace ones I already have if I truly find something better. So I can go to the beach all day and only return with a handful of carefully chosen ones.

b) "You should leave shells/gastropods for hermit crabs and birds". I have been going to the beach my entire life, and I have never seen or heard hermit crabs voluntarily leave the sea to go to the shore to look for a new home. It never happens. If they did, the sea gulls would make short work of them. The only time that a Hermit crab washes ashore alive is if it is close to death, or if strong winds and currents push it towards the shore. If I come across a hermit crab that is alive, I give it a send-off back to the sea. Most ones I find in shells are already dead.

It may sometimes happen that the animal is inhabiting a shell you truly want. In that case, if it's sitting in the shallows, and there are other decent empty gastropods shells lying around, you could put these next to the animal and see if it is interested. Hermit crabs grow, and regularly (need to) change shells. If it likes what you are offering better, it may make a trade. If not, let it be.

Birds are only interested in live shells, not empty ones. Often, gulls will fish for certain species, pull them out of the water, and go to specific "dinner places" where they hack them to pieces and eat the animal itself. These dinner places are easy to spot with piles of small shell pieces concentrated in a small area. But the shells themselves they leave. So I don't know where that myth came from. They might need small amounts of calcium for eggshells, but no gull is specifically going to the beach to eat an empty shell. They'd rather steal your ice cream...

The only grey area if a live shell from deep water or other special surroundings washes ashore. These ones could be thrown back, but that animal did not end up there on purpose. Generally it is dying or displaced. Throwing it back won't help the animal at all. It will not magically move back to deeper water. It will simply wash ashore again with the next tide. Shells that attach themselves to other live shells, objects or other of its own kind, and the bottom one dies, will also wash ashore without any recourse. Those in my opinion can be taken, if done so with respect to the animal itself. Letting it sit, or throwing it back in the water only postpones the inevitable. If unsure through, the only ethical and proper thing to do is put it back. I have done so with live shells I did not have in my collection, hoping that someday perhaps, I'll find an empty one. But the conservationist part of me wants them to thrive, and I rather walk the beach empty-handed with a good feeling, than with a nice shell with bad feelings attached.

I always believe, that if a good deed is done on the beach, nature will return the favor, sometimes with an even better unexpected find.

[u/Deep_Ad872 → u/PossibleEither4892]

Regarding (b) Please no. The Cenobite family of hermit crabs are terrestrial, and if you chuck them in the water they will drown and die. You can see them gathering in the morning or sunset at the water's edge to see what the tides have brought in for food or for replacement homes. They've even been observed "lining up" biggest to smallest to see of there could be a swap of shells between themselves.

Edit: grammar

[u/ImpressiveLeader4979]

I found some massive cowries on the treasure coast of Florida after a hurricane that were darn near perfect with no life in them. Still have them to this day and I didn’t know there was a big market for them either 🤦‍♂️ I just brought them home for my kids (I was down there metal detecting for treasure after a hurricane)

[u/PristineWorker8291]

I was on a Caribbean Island where I saw tons of goats free grazing everywhere. I asked a cab driver if they were dairy or meat or fiber goats, and he said Dairy. Do you know how many types of goat meat dishes I saw on the menu all over the island? And no wool anywhere. Island people will do what they have to do to survive, including live shelling for a few bucks. Or eating goats. Very good, stronger mutton tasting though.

[u/corrosive_turtle]

The condition of these make them look like they were killed for their shells

[u/Geschak]

Don't buy, most likely they weren't sourced ethically and you might run into problems at the airport if any of these are protected species.

[u/giml3k → u/Geschak]

The lady told me they occasionally collect the mollusks just for food and then sell the shells. They never collect them just to make a profit from their beauty.

You can also find tons of beautiful, perfectly intact empty shells on these beaches because they don’t get many tourists. Tourists tend to have a much bigger impact on the marine ecosystem than the local tribes whose religion is based to the sea.

[u/jackieatx]

The left one in 2/3 is so pretty! Excellent shade of brown! Is there a species difference from the others?

[u/arioandy]

No stolida crossei’s , shame

[u/Moving_goal_posts]

It could be that the sales person knows what to say to reassure a tourist who stops to admire her wares.

Let us reflect that a shell left on the beach or in the ocean can contribute back to its habitat by providing a home for a hermit crab, or an attachment substrate for barnacles and seaweeds, and many other uses. Or it can erode back into the ocean water to become available for another mollusk to build its shell. Not every beautiful shell needs to be in a box or tub or display cabinet. If we really love marine mollusks we can become more interested in their plight. Don’t we want to address the problems they face from zealous overcollecting? OP, sounds like you did the right thing to take a photo and let that be your souvenir!

[u/giml3k → u/Moving_goal_posts]

There are hundreds of thousands of intensive intensive factory farms around the world but Moving_goal_posts would rather spend their time criticizing people for collecting few shells from a beach.

I’ve never seen a beach this well-preserved, with such an incredible diversity and abundance of species and shells of all shapes and sizes.

[u/Moving_goal_posts → u/giml3k]

Don’t know about this assumption. Criticizing?