The Lacey Act prohibits interstate commerce in wildlife protected under state or federal law and thereby enables federal law enforcement officers to assist states in protecting their wildlife resources. The stakes were suddenly much more serious, something the divers and Tennessee Shell Co. had not foreseen. Buyers for the Tennessee Shell Co. began looking for a new supply and settled on protected rivers in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. But because of the exceptional quantity and quality of the Michigan mussels, much of their activity centered on the Grand River. The documents proved Tennessee Shell Co. had been purchasing mussels from independent buyers and divers with the full knowledge that they had been taken from waters where state law prohibited their harvest.
Freshwater mussels are one of America s most endangered species of wildlife.
They are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, warning us of danger by detecting and filtering out pollutants and toxic chemicals in the water that may affect human health. But they are being wiped out as a result of human activities, and, in this case, because of greed. After all the convictions and Tennessee Shell s hefty fine, the illegal harvesting appears to have stopped for now. But I suspect that within a few years it will start up again. We obtained a lot of intelligence during the investigation their methods, where they stay.