Mussels targeted for pearls
| Most don't contain a pearl and the discarded shellfish are left to die on the bank. Following recent cases on the Spey, the police in Moray are calling for the public to help to report the lawbreakers, before the mussels become completely extinct, BBC News wrote. Douglas Darling, a wildlife crime officer with Grampian Police, told the news source: "What we found on the river bank was literally hundreds of these small pearl mussel shells, just discarded.” Scotland is a stronghold of the freshwater mussel with about 60 per cent of the world's population living in its waters. Even touching a freshwater mussel can be punished with a £10,000 fine.Apart from illegal fishing, the mussels are also threatened by pollution and declining salmon stocks. Ben Ross, from Scottish Natural Heritage, told the BBC News that salmon and mussels are closely connected. He explained that the larvae has to attach to the gills of a salmon or trout though it's not fully known why – but it may be that the salmon to take it up the river and allow the species and the population to spread. | |
