Question: are freshwater pearl mussels protected?

Karen answered on 7 Nov 2018:

Hi, that’s a great question, the freshwater pearl mussel is protected under the Bern Convention and the Habitats Directive, so they are protected under both Irish and European law. It is illegal to fish them now, which people used to do. Fishers used to come to the rivers I study in all the way from Scotland to look for pearls! I found a letter online that was written by a man from the UK who was sent to find pearls in Ireland almost 400 years ago. The Queen of England has a necklace made from Irish freshwater pearls. As there is only 1 pearl in every 10,000 mussels, you need to kill thousands of mussels for just a small amount of pearls. This is why the freshwater pearl mussel had to be protected from pearl fishing!