In states where mussel collecting is legal, harvesting provides jobs and income to residents along rivers. Mussels have other values more difficult to measure. In the rivers and lakes where they live, their filtering ability makes them natural water purifiers. They play an important role in the aquatic food chain as a food source for wildlife including muskrats and otters. They also can tell us something about the health of the environment on which we both depend.
Mussels respond to changes in water quality.
Gradual mussel die-offs or sudden mussel kills are reliable indicators of water pollution problems and other environmental health concerns. Stable, diverse mussel populations generally indicate clean water and a healthy aquatic environment. If we lose our freshwater mussels, we lose more than a biological legacy unmatched in the world. We lose a part of our cultural heritage, we lose an economic resource, and we lose an environmental health maintenance and warning system. Fortunately, there are efforts being made to avoid these losses and things everyone can do to help save our freshwater mussels.