Fresh water mussel find!

[barbourdurham]

Went for a quick bike ride with my little girl. Near us is a nice lake surrounded by trees. As it was still warm, we went for a paddle. I was wearing my Polaroid sunnies so I could see into the clear water without it reflecting.

Looking down into the shallows, we saw these beauties.....

I scouted around and within a three square ish meter part of the bank, in about 3 - 12 in of water I found four of them.

It's only the second time I've found them, the last time being many moons ago when I was a lad. Problem is, bivalves don't agree with me, the last time I had them I was very ill for a week or more. So back they went.

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[hiho]

I caught a huge one on Tuesday whilst fishing.

 

[Dogoak]

Nice to see, surprisingly large aren't they? Very long lifespan so those are probably quite old.

Glad your location is not obvious and that your guts don't agree with bivalves as they are an endangered species, at least up here, not sure about the rest of the UK. There's some right scrotes out there who would go to great lengths to get hold of them

 

[Toddy]

I thought fresh water mussels were protected ? they're certainly under threat, I know that. They don't mature enough to breed until they're twelve years old.

http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/species.asp?FeatureIntCode=s1029

Glad to hear you put them back

M

 

[barbourdurham]

Tbh I don't think I'd have cooked them either way. I wasn't hungry! I didn't know they're endangered either.......

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[hiho]

I thought fresh water mussels were protected ? they're certainly under threat, I know that. They don't mature enough to breed until they're twelve years old.

http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/species.asp?FeatureIntCode=s1029

Glad to hear you put them back

M

different ones Toddy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_mussel

 

[Drain Bamaged]

It's the Fresh Water Pearl mussel that is protected (though all mussels are capable of producing a pearl including the Swan Mussel) They are still occasionally used as fish bait, especially for Carp (though the Green Lipped Mussel is more commonly used for bait and bait products). Back in Isaac Walton's day they were considered a good bait for most fish though I think they were more plentiful back then.....they are becoming increasingly rare now, initially because of pollution and more recently strangely enough because their waters are actually too clean both through environmental efforts and in many areas because of a massive increase of Zebra Mussels robbing them of food, they filter up to 12 gallons of water a day for food which would probably make them unsafe to eat as they do tend to concentrate any toxins they filter.

D.B.

 

[santaman2000]

I used to find buckets full (usually only about half that size though) without really trying. Never on top of the sand like that though; we always had to sift an inch or two under the sand to get them. Much rarer now-a-days.

 

[Robson Valley]

Decided to Google "freshwater pearls" to see what I could read.
Discovered that your protected species may be a remnant from the medieval freshwater pearl trade where
Scotland was a major producer.

 

[zornt]

Here in Ohio they are protected and illegal to possess them.

 

[santaman2000]

Here in Ohio they are protected and illegal to possess them.

All species? There are 78 different known freshwater species in the Ohio River basin and more than 300 species in North America. The US Fish & Wildlife Department states about half of them are endangered in Ohio: www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/clams/mussels.html

 

[Robson Valley]

santaman = check out which species have been used in the freshwater, cultured pearl business in the Mississippi/Missouri River system.
I bought ropes and ropes of those in years gone by. All Pac Rim rice burners, now.

 

[santaman2000]

santaman = check out which species have been used in the freshwater, cultured pearl business in the Mississippi/Missouri River system.
I bought ropes and ropes of those in years gone by. All Pac Rim rice burners, now.

From my link:

Economic value: freshwater mussels have been and continue to be a major economic resource; first in the button industry and now in the cultured pearl industry. Mussels from North American form the nucleus of the cultured pearl industry in Asia.Education and aesthetic value: the study of mussels, their natural history, and habitat requirements provides interesting and important lessons on the interconnectedness of the aquatic system and how species adapt to their ecosystem.

 

[Robson Valley]

I don't like to eat the fresh water clams and mussels. Tough as a boot.

I can eat very large quantities of marine mussels. Not a pearl yet.
But in tins of little smoked oysters, I have found two pearls, maybe 2mm/ 1/8" diameters.

 

[zornt]

All species? There are 78 different known freshwater species in the Ohio River basin and more than 300 species in North America. The US Fish & Wildlife Department states about half of them are endangered in Ohio: www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/clams/mussels.html

Fishing regulations state all. Can not possess any.

 

[MartiniDave]

I haven't seen fresh water mussels since the long hot summer of '76. They used to be prolific in the fenland drains around where I grew up, but the low water levels that year wiped them out. It would be nice if they made a comeback.
Dave

 

[Joonsy]

firstly the mussels found in this thread are ''Swan Mussels'', they live in lakes and ponds and canals, they are fairly common I have found plenty throughout the uk and have even found them in lakes and canals and park pools right in the city centre of Birmingham and the West Midlands. The rare mussel is the ''Freshwater Pearl Mussel'' which is a completely different type to the swan mussel, the freshwater pearl mussel only lives in fast flowing very clean rivers which have particular qualities, they do not live in lakes pools or canals.

Scotland has a history of pearl fishing up until 1998 when it was made illegal, and Perth was the trading centre. There was a tradition amongst certain travelling families of pearl fishing. Pearl fishing is illegal now in the uk as the freshwater pearl mussel is a critically endangered species. Back in 1967 there was a guy who found a pearl of exceptional quality and sold it for a large amount of money (said to be many thousands of pounds but the sum was undisclosed) his name was Bill Abernethy a professional pearl fisherman and the pearl became known as ''Little Willie'' or the ''Abernethy Pearl'', said to be the most perfect pearl ever found and perhaps the most famous, it was on show at Cairncross jewellers shop in Perth where pearls used to be sold. Not all freshwater pearl mussels actually contain a pearl and the quality of those that do varies enormously, the Abernethy pearl was exceptional. There used to be an old law (now made illegal) which allowed anyone to fish for pearl mussels in any river in Scotland, that combined with the value of pearls inevitably led to overfishing and exploitation, all pearl mussels found were opened to see if they contained a pearl even though not all actually do, and once forcefully opened the mussel would die and be discarded. Sadly now the freshwater pearl mussel is extremely rare.

For anyone interested in Scotland's pearl fishing history there is a book called ''The River and the Road'' by Peter Goodwin who was one of the last legal pearl fishers, I have it on my bookshelf along with another book called ''The Summer Walkers'' about the travelling families of pearl fishers in Scotland.

The vid added below shows Bill Abernethy pearl fishing, while the setting and background music is romantic Abernethy is the guy who found the very rare Little Willie pearl, the publicity of which probably speeded up the decline of the freshwater pearl mussel by encouraging folks who put financial reward above anything else, it's sadly the same thing that happens to many rare things, however those who buy the pearls and those who like to display their wealth by decorating themseleves with pearls are equally responsible for the decline of the freshwater pearl mussel as the guy who fishes for them.

[video=youtube;cBr4XR6uoPY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBr4XR6uoPY[/video]

 

[Toddy]

Interesting
I live in Scotland, where about half of the entire world's pearl mussel rivers run. These last bastions are precious, but there are plans to widen their range to more English rivers too.

Thing is though that there are six types of fresh water mussels in the UK, and two of them are under threat. The pearl and the depressed ones are the ones that are now protected in some form.


https://www.fba.org.uk/mussel-rivers

"The UK is home to 6 species of freshwater mussel of which two, the depressed river mussel ( Pseudanodonta complanata ) and the pearl mussel ( Margaritifera margaritifera ), have experienced significant declines during the 20th century. Both are now included on a list of the most threatened UK species drawn up as part of the Government’s Biodiversity Action Plan."

http://www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk/bivalve.molluscs/bivalve.research/freshwater.mussels/

and if you look at fresh water mussels in Europe and N. America as a whole, then they're all pretty much under threat.
Slow maturity leaves them vulnerable, but awareness is a very good thing.

Not particularly good eating I was told
I really don't mind being allergic to fish

M

 

[Dogoak]

Informative post Joonsy, thanks.

My son found some fresh water peal mussels at a local river a couple of years back, sadly all opened. We did contact the local wildlife bobby who was thankful for the info. SNH were also informed. It seems there are a few regular scrotes who travel about and are known to the authorities. Problem is catching them at it, apparently sometimes they will involve the whole family, kids frolicking in the water etc; normal family fun so no one spots what they're really up to!

 

[Joonsy]

Interesting
I live in Scotland, where about half of the entire world's pearl mussel rivers run. These last bastions are precious, but there are plans to widen their range to more English rivers too.

Informative post Joonsy, thanks.

Thanks both yes Scotland sure is a precious resource. I personally know of a small colony of freshwater pearl mussels in the midlands in england, though for obvious reasons I won't disclose the location on the forum. ATB