Mike Pandey Documentary filmmaker on wildlife and environment
A most destructive and cruel trade continues to thrive along almost all the coastal cities of the world. As a consequence, the oceans’ resources are depleting at an alarmingly rate.Travellers visiting coastal towns and coastlines usually pick up exotic conch shells as souvenirs from their holidays. They remain oblivious of the fact that most of such marine products are now protected and illegal to possess.
In India, very few people realise that seashells and corals are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act. Trading in marine products can draw fines and even imprisonment. But while the law is clear, its implementation is haphazard. Seashells continue to be sold openly at coastal towns across the country. Chennai, Goa, Somnath and Kanyakumari... in fact, most coastal cities sell large conch shells, seashell-decorated items and trinkets. Curtains, made up of thousands of shells, are among the most popularly sold items.
To meet the demand, thousands of tonnes of live seashells and corals are dredged from the ocean floor by fishermen and traders every day. These live shells are boiled or dipped in acid in order to remove the marine creature. It is then polished well and sold.
Corals, too, are broken up from live reefs to provide for saltwater home aquariums. Not many know that coral reefs take hundreds of years to form, and that there is no way to harvest them without damaging an entire micro ecosystem. Corals grow very slowly, and harvesting them causes permanent damage to the reefs.
Corals are also nurseries for thousands of species of fish and marine life. Over-harvesting has already pushed many species, such as the queen conch, to the brink of extinction. Almost 80 per cent of the marine fish are endangered—the Cod and the Tuna almost on the edge, spiralling towards extinction.
Most of us are ignorant of the ground realities as we browse the stores looking for a perfect souvenir to bring home from our holiday. The only way to stop the cruel harvesting of seashells is to stop buying them. Once the demand drops, the economics of the marketplace will take over, and this destructive trade would come to an end.
Although legislation is in place, awareness programmes by the authorities concerned need to reach the common people and holiday-makers so that they can take educated decisions.
Often, shop owners claim that they only sell empty or dead shells, but this is quite unlikely. Those who trade in shells, tend to collect live ones because the colours in those are more vibrant. Empty and dead shells fade and lose their lustre.
Please be cautious and think before purchasing any marine trinket or souvenir. Your purchase will encourage people in the trade to keep on collecting live shells in large, unsustainable numbers.
This is not to say that you can’t ever bring home a seashell as a souvenir. Walking on a beach, eyes peeled to the ground, looking for a perfect shell is one of the many joys of a seaside holiday and troll. It’s perfectly okay to bring home a meaningful souvenir that you find washed up on the shore. However, just ensure that the one you pick up is not a living shell.
If unsure, put it in a mug of seawater and let it lie undisturbed. In case there’s a creature inside, it will pop its head out as it starts feeling safe. If that’s the case, please toss the shell back into the sea.
Some beaches have rules about not taking back any seashells, or specific kinds, and corals. The rules exist, but are rarely enforced, such as in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where only a tiny, easy-to-miss board at the airport in Port Blair advises its visitors not to take back seashells and corals. You may have to make a special effort to find out what the rules are for the beach you are visiting. The good effort will definitely help preserve our marine life.
Also, keep in mind, that corals and shells that remain on the beach, play a vital role in the ecology. They help keep the sand in place, and turn into sand themselves as wind and water weather them. Lastly, do try to limit your marine haul. Maybe, you do not need 20 shells to remember your holiday... one beautiful shell might work just as well!
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