Conservation News

Operation Necklace hunts illegal pearl fishers

Operation Necklace is a new Scottish initiative started by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime. In a joint operation, the Scottish police force and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) aim to halt the illegal trade in endangered freshwater mussels. Pearl mussels now have full protection under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which was strengthened further in the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill, injure, take or disturb the mussels or their habitat. It is also illegal to sell or advertise pearl mussels for sale without a licence from the Scottish Executive. Jewellery shop checks last year showed the illegal pearl trade still exists and whilst there are now only 61 known breeding sites left in Scotland it is clear they are still being targeted by thieves hoping to find the pearls.

John Ralston, Licensing officer at SNH said: "We know that pearl fishing continues in Scotland, despite recent strengthening of the law, and the critical state of pearl mussel populations. There are now so few sites of pearl mussels left in the country that we are in danger of losing this special creature altogether. By launching Operation Necklace we hope to spread the word amongst anyone that might notice this illegal activity and report anything suspicious to their local wildlife crime officer." During the crackdown on the black market, which is part of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime, police and river workers will be provided with information on the hot spots where pearl theft continues. A leaflet which highlights stronger legislation against people who fish for freshwater pearl mussels is downloadable from the SNH web-site and will be distributed to police forces throughout Scotland and in areas with rivers where the pearl mussels thrive.

Snails as pollinators

Bernard Verdcourt drew my attention to a paper one of his colleagues that might be of interest to other members. It describes the role of a snail in pollination of a plant based on observations made in France. Sea bindwind (Calystegia soldanella: Convolvulacea) is a species which is mainly found on coastal dunes. Thierry Deroin (2000) reports that this plant is adapted in two ways for pollination by two different invertebrates; it has a range of insect visitors, but only one fly is small enough to seek nectar (Diptera: Cetema cereris). The other species which seemed to have been involved in pollination was the land-snail Theba pisana (O.F. Müller), which uses the plant both as a site for resting during the day and for foraging at night, snail brushes against corolla

Deroin, T. (2000) Remarque sur la biologie florale de Calystegia soldanella(L.) R. Br.( Convolvulaceés) dans l’ ouest du Cotentin. Bulletin de la Societe Botanique de centre-ouest, Nouvelle serie 31: 201-206.