Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

Frogwatch wrote:
On Jul 17, 1:43 pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
"H the K" wrote in messagenews:kL2dnTfQh8IeAf3XnZ2dnUVZ_sidnZ2d@earth link.com...



Frogwatch wrote:
On Jul 17, 10:25 am, Richard Casady
wrote:
On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:12:56 -0500, thunder
wrote:
On Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:37:20 -0700, Tim wrote:
Could they become a new fresh water plague?
Not that I would suggest tampering with an ecosystem, but Zebra Mussels
are not without some positive aspects. Their filtering capabilities
can
improve water quality and clarity. There are reports of areas where
the
smallmouth, perch, and even salmon fishing has improved after Zebra
Mussel infestations.
http://seapics.com/feature-subject/m.../zebra-mussel-
pictures.html
What eats them? So many acres of sunlit water will produce x tons of
plants which will support y tons of animals. It is looking like, some
places, all the animals will be mussels, and no fish whatever.
Casady
From Wiki:
"In terms of reproduction, zebra mussels are among the most prolific
of all animals. An adult female Zebra mussel may produce between
30,000 and 1 million[3] eggs per year. Spawning usually begins in the
months from late spring to early summer by free-swimming larvae
(veligers)."
So, why not take advantage of this source of protein by harvesting
them or even growing them. Take them off whatever they grow on, grind
em up and use the result in animal feed.
Or serve them as a delicacy in really crappy rednecky restaurants? With
barbecue sauce, of course.
Sounds more like fodder you would get in a Yuppie, upscale diner.

They aint empty, they got critters in em when alive. The wave washes
em in, and then they real quickly bury themselves in the sand. You
take a collander and find a patch of em and sieve em out till you get
about a gallon of em. I'd have to look up a recipe cuz I have not
done it as an adult. As kids, we tried to eat just about everyhting
we found in the water including sea urchins, (yuk).


Makes sense to me now. We used to scrape buckets of mussels off the
rocks at low tide. A buddy's mom was traditional Italian and she knew
exactly how to cook 'em up with garlic and butter and serve 'em with pasta.

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:36:53 -0400, NotNow wrote:


Harry's not too bright. Please don't quote him!

Life is full of little disappointments, isn't it?

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:59:43 -0400, H the K wrote:


Hey...I thought the term was a local name for the empty shells. I was
younger then, and didn't question everything. That's my excuse and I am
sticking to it.

Well it is, sort of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coquina

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

thunder wrote:
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:36:53 -0400, NotNow wrote:


Harry's not too bright. Please don't quote him!

Life is full of little disappointments, isn't it?



"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet



"A loogy by any other name would still smell like ****."
Shakespeare, Stupid is as Stupid Does

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:57:40 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:10:37 -0400, H the K
wrote:

We used to make "Periwinkle soup" made from coquinas we seived from
the beach sand boiled with milk and then strained to remove the sand.


What?

Coquina is empty shells, right? A few hundred yards off the beaches of
St. Augustine were miles of coquina under the surface. Pretty decent
fishing grounds, actually. You made soup from empty shells?

Did it taste like...chicken?


Where do you think the empty shells came from?

These are the little guys that bury themselves as fast as the waves or
kids, dig them up. Try digging a little right at the water's edge,

Aren't these sometimes called "sand crabs?"
Seem to remember we called them that a VA Beach when I was in the
Navy. Also seem to remember thinking about using them for bait after
reading something about that, but didn't do because it happened to be
about the only time I just couldn't find any.

--Vic

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

thunder wrote:
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:59:43 -0400, H the K wrote:


Hey...I thought the term was a local name for the empty shells. I was
younger then, and didn't question everything. That's my excuse and I am
sticking to it.

Well it is, sort of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coquina


Yeah...that's my recollection.

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

thunder wrote:
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:36:53 -0400, NotNow wrote:


Harry's not too bright. Please don't quote him!

Life is full of little disappointments, isn't it?

Oh, I don't know if *I* would call Harry a disappointment, but his
parents may well have.

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:51:25 -0700, Frogwatch wrote:


As kids, we tried to eat just about everyhting we found in the
water including sea urchins, (yuk).

Are you Japanese? ;-) Didn't try to eat any blowfish, did you? I
always wondered how many people died, *before* they figured out how to
eat them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraodontidae

Blasted Zebra Mussels...
 

thunder wrote:
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:51:25 -0700, Frogwatch wrote:


As kids, we tried to eat just about everyhting we found in the
water including sea urchins, (yuk).

Are you Japanese? ;-) Didn't try to eat any blowfish, did you? I
always wondered how many people died, *before* they figured out how to
eat them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraodontidae


I learned a lot about seafood when we lived in Florida, including that
most larger fish we caught were not as tasty as smaller fish of the same
species, or just plain smaller fish.