(NASSAU, BAHAMAS) – This summer a team of scientists and volunteers will conduct important surveys of queen conch populations in the Exuma Cays of The Bahamas. Community Conch, a U.S. non-profit organization, has organized this year’s expedition. It is their third conch survey in the country since 2009. With support from the Department of Marine Resources, the Bahamas National Trust, and the Perry Institute for Marine Science, the group will look closely at conch populations in two areas that were surveyed nearly 20 years ago to document trends in the numbers and reproductive success of this economically and ecologically important species.

The queen conch is known to scientists as Strombus gigas, and throughout the Caribbean by a variety of names such as the pink conch, the broad-lipped conch, karkó, lambi, and the giant conch. Queen conch has been an important staple in the diet of many Caribbean cultures and a seafood delicacy for tourists, but unfortunately the species is threatened throughout its range and is already commercially extinct in many countries including the United States. Because of diminishing stocks throughout the Caribbean, the queen conch is protected through export restrictions imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Bahamas is no exception. Despite national and international regulation of the fishery, queen conch populations are disappearing here too. In many places where an abundance of conchs were once found, there are few if any left, especially in the coastal waters that are easily fished. According to the most experienced fishermen, at one time it seemed that there was an endless supply of the tasty marine snail, but those times have passed. To find enough for a commercial harvest, fishermen must now travel farther than ever before. On some of the more populated islands it is often difficult to find even a few for the dinner table. Bahamian fishery regulations prohibit the taking of conchs without a flared lip, but illegal harvest of juvenile or undersized conchs is still widely practiced.

So, what can be done to protect the queen conch in The Bahamas and ensure a viable fishery in the future? How can the country sustain a commercial fishery without overly depleting such a valuable natural resource? What will be the costs and benefits to the fishing community and to the people of The Bahamas?

Community Conch and the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) are searching for answers to these questions, as are other conservation organizations in The Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean. A first step is to find out where healthy populations still exist and where protection may be needed. Scientists are particularly concerned with the density of conchs in an area, or the number of individuals per hectare, because higher densities of adult conchs are needed for the successful mating seasons that replenish stocks. In 2009, Community Conch and DMR completed the first large scale stock assessment of a commercial conch fishing ground in the Berry Islands and a baseline survey of conch populations within the new Berry Island Marine Reserve. In 2010, Community Conch continued their work with The Nature Conservancy in the traditional fishing grounds of Andros.  Sadly, in both locations, the densities were already too low for reproduction, though there were still higher densities of small, commercially undesirable “samba” conchs.

This year during the conch mating season, Community Conch plans to revisit areas in the Exuma Cays that were surveyed in the mid 1990s by Dr. Allan Stoner, who is now the lead scientist for the organization. One of the survey areas is within the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, known for being the oldest no-take marine reserve in the world. The other survey area is near Great Exuma and was once a very productive fishing ground for local communities. Nearly 20 years ago, the original surveys of these locations showed that the density of adult conch in the Exuma Park was 31 times higher than that in the fishing ground just north of Great Exuma; even back then it seemed that fishing had started to take its toll.

Dr. Stoner expects that the upcoming surveys in the Exuma Cays will provide important new information about how densities of conch may be changing in these fished and unfished (no-take) areas. “It will be really important to see how the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park has been functioning as a conch reserve over time,” he says. “Since conch larvae drift for about three weeks before settling in a new location, it is not known if the larvae produced in the Park stay in the park or settle downstream.  So, if populations are depleted upstream of the park, it is possible that the density of conch in the Park could decline along with populations outside the Park. This year’s studies are designed to address these questions, and will provide new information critical for conch conservation.”

Martha Davis, Community Conch’s founder and director, elaborates on a second goal for the 2011 expedition: to determine a better estimate of when in the life of a queen conch it is able to mate and lay eggs, a stage in the life cycle also known as reproductive maturity.   “We know that near its third year, a conch starts to form a flared lip on its shell and at this point, the shell grows no longer, only thicker. Scientists have proven that the thickness of this lip is related to the conch’s age,” she explains.  In The Bahamas, regulation of the conch fishery was based upon the belief that when a conch has a flared lip, it is mature and has had the opportunity to reproduce before being harvested. Ms. Davis suggests that while this has been the criterion used historically, there is more current scientific evidence that shows a flared lip may not be the best indicator of adulthood or reproductive maturity. “Thin-lipped conch may not reproduce until the following summer season, so they could actually be harvested before they reproduce. We need to find out how thick the conch’s lip is when it is capable of reproducing.”

Community Conch relies on committed volunteers from The Bahamas and the U.S for their field studies. This year the organization will be joined by three Bahamian students eager to gain experience in marine science and conservation. While in the Exumas, members of the expedition plan to meet with community members to share and discuss conch conservation issues.

About Community Conch:

The mission of Community Conch is to affect sustainable harvest of queen conch through research, education and collaboration with local communities, the Bahamian government and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The organization welcomes comments and suggestions, and shares information with the public via their website www.communityconch.org.
Media Contact

Catherine Booker

Scientist and Field Representative

242-357-0134

catherinebooker@communityconch.org

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Community Conch has added a new resource to our website for those interested in conch conservation in The Bahamas and the Caribbean. Our latest scientific manuscript presents an interesting comparison of conch reproduction in the fishing grounds of the Berry Islands and Andros Island, and a marine protected area, the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (ECLSP) in The Bahamas. As a fully protected no-take marine reserve since the mid-1980’s, the ECLSP has provided a compelling example of what conch spawning aggregations look like in the absence of fishing pressure. Our recent work in the Berry Islands and Andros showed that aggregations in heavily fished areas can look much different. Indeed, it seems that conch are mating less frequently in these fished areas even at the height of spawning season, and when numbers of individuals are similar to what is found in a marine reserve. The most troubling result was that mating frequency at Andros Island and the Berry Islands fishing grounds leveled off at just 6.3% and 2.3% of mature adults, compared with 13.7% in the marine reserve. For a more detailed description of our work and findings, read the latest from Community Conch scientists on our Resources page.

Thank-you to everyone for helping with our 2009 summer conch survey in the Berry Islands.

(NASSAU, BAHAMAS) – A new organization working in the Bahamas, Community Conch, has recently completed a extensive survey of queen conch populations in the Berry Islands. A team of volunteers from the U.S. and the Bahamas came together to gather valuable data that they hope will help the Bahamas manage the fishery sustainably.

The queen conch (Strombus gigas) is important to the Bahamas culturally, ecologically, and economically. The Bahamas is one of a few Caribbean nations that is fortunate enough to still have a viable commercial fishery for conch in its waters. Many regions, including the coast of Florida, have been over-fished resulting in the commercial extinction of the species. Because of diminishing stocks throughout the Caribbean, the queen conch is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Berry Islands of the Bahamas are known as important commercial fishing grounds for queen conch, but it is feared that these stocks are being over-exploited. The Department of Marine Resources is moving forward with the establishment of a marine reserve in the island group that will protect queen conch nursery habitat as well as many other habitats and species within its boundaries.

Recognizing the need for scientific data that will aid the Department of Marine Resources in the management of the queen conch fishery, Ms. Martha Davis established Community Conch, a U.S non-profit organization. The mission of Community Conch is to affect sustainable harvest of queen conch through research, education and collaboration with local communities, the Bahamian government and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Ms. Davis, a marine conservationist and a long time sailor in the Bahamas said of the current situation, “the Bahamas’ large area and relatively small population has buffered it from the problems of overfishing that are common throughout the Caribbean, but it is not immune from these pressures. When juvenile conch nurseries are stripped for fish trap bait and conch salad before they are mature enough to reproduce, it is only a matter of time before the resource and a way of life are gone.”

With the help of volunteers, community members and biologists Allan Stoner, PhD and Catherine Booker, MS, Community Conch completed a baseline survey of conch in the new marine reserve area and the first stock assessment of the commercial fishing grounds in the Berry Islands. Community Conch’s first project was a great accomplishment for this new organization and for the Bahamas. They hope to build on their success in the future with the support of others concerned about the state of the queen conch fishery. The results of their study have been reported to the Department of Marine Resources and is available to the public at www.communityconch.org.

Media Contact:

Catherine Booker
Community Conch
catherinebooker@communityconch.org
242-524-5464