German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
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Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#2I went to Muscatine, Iowa on a work trip once. There was a restaurant there called Button Factory. It was housed in a former button factory. Pretty old building. The bar top had an epoxy inlay with embedded buttons that were produced in the factory.
The meal was pretty good. The restaurant closed in 2012.
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#3TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-10/21-species-deliste...
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#4TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-10/21-species-deliste...
> TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct
The problem with the DR part of TLDR is that you miss a lot of detail. There are more factors than just the button industry.
> To survive past the larvae stage, they must become parasites that attach themselves to fish. If the fish populations are declining, that oftentimes has an indirect effect on mussel abundance
> the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deepened the rivers and constructed a system of dams, destroying the habitats of mussels that had evolved to live in shallower waters.
> Increasingly polluted waters also took a toll.
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#5TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-10/21-species-deliste...
> TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct The problem with the DR part of TLDR is that you miss a lot of detail. There are more factors than just the button industry. > To survive past the larvae stage, they must become parasites that attach themselves to fish. If the fish populations are declining, that oftentimes has an indirect effect on mussel abundance > the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
Agreed.
Massachusetts has a nice page about the Eastern Pearlshell.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/eastern-pearlshell
In the town of Sandisfield MA, I've found live mussels in the Clam River - which was named due mistakenly identity.
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#6TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-10/21-species-deliste...
> TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct The problem with the DR part of TLDR is that you miss a lot of detail. There are more factors than just the button industry. > To survive past the larvae stage, they must become parasites that attach themselves to fish. If the fish populations are declining, that oftentimes has an indirect effect on mussel abundance > the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
DR?
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
> TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct The problem with the DR part of TLDR is that you miss a lot of detail. There are more factors than just the button industry. > To survive past the larvae stage, they must become parasites that attach themselves to fish. If the fish populations are declining, that oftentimes has an indirect effect on mussel abundance > the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
DR?
Didn't read
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#8TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-10/21-species-deliste...
> TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct The problem with the DR part of TLDR is that you miss a lot of detail. There are more factors than just the button industry. > To survive past the larvae stage, they must become parasites that attach themselves to fish. If the fish populations are declining, that oftentimes has an indirect effect on mussel abundance > the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
The river I live next to had the same thing happen. The mussel populations aren't what they once were (said to be hundreds per square meter back in the 1800's). There was also button factories along the river, and they briefly tried pearl farming. The big problem was pollution, dams, etc. as you say. The river is better now than it's been since I was born - and more dams are being removed year by year.
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
> TLDR: Consequently many freshwater mussel species are now extinct The problem with the DR part of TLDR is that you miss a lot of detail. There are more factors than just the button industry. > To survive past the larvae stage, they must become parasites that attach themselves to fish. If the fish populations are declining, that oftentimes has an indirect effect on mussel abundance > the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
DR?
[deleted]
Re: German button maker searched rivers of American Midwest for valuable shells
#10I recently learned about using mussels for buttons when I visited the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa and have been wondering since: can Zebra Mussels be used for buttons? That would create (even more) economic incentive to go after them.