Poachers target U.S. mussels because of their value in the production of cultured pearls. Most of these pearls have centers made from U.S. mussels. The mussel shells are ground, shaped into beads and inserted into live oysters, which then coat the beads with minerals, resulting in pearls. States regulate the legal harvest of all freshwater mussel species, often closing waterways to harvest. Shells from state regulated rivers in the South and Midwest are in the most demand by the pearl industry because they are larger and thicker than other mussel shells and produce larger, more valuable pearls.
Poachers violate state harvest regulations in order to collect the larger, more profitable shells.
That's why this case and the projects that will be funded to protect and conserve mussels are so important. Eight Greenpeace activists have parachuted and snowmobiled their way onto the frozen Arctic Ocean to monitor and protest the construction of BP Amoco s controversial Northstar project. The project is the first offshore oil project to be built in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska s north coast. BP Amoco promotes itself as a green oil company concerned about global warming, yet continues to drill in new oil frontiers with projects like Northstar. It s time for BP Amoco to put its money where its mouth is and shift away from fossil fuels towards climate friendly forms of energy such as solar power.