‘What will happen to the Bahamas when all the Conch is gone?’
“Let’s think about tomorrow, there are some simple rules to follow: preservation, moderation, we need some Conchservation. Conch Gone!”
Under the direction of Lavado Stubbs, ConchBoy films, with several musicians, a new music video came out today to help the conservation of conch for The Bahamas (article here). A widespread effort between entertainers and several conservation and management organizations throughout The Bahamas to give us a glimpse of our future if ‘we do not come together to conserve our precious resource’. If you need a quick pick me up on this Friday with a great message and tune to go along with it, click HERE!
If you would like to be apart of the Conchservation movement, please sign BNT’s petition HERE to help protect baby conch in The Bahamas.
Conched Out in the Turks and Caicos
A new study from Turks and Caicos finds that the total local consumption of conch equals approximately the total allowable catch without export amounts factored in from 1950-2012. See research summary below and full paper here.
The Turks and Caicos Islands’ total marine fisheries catches were estimated for 1950–2012 using a catch reconstruction approach, estimating all removals, including reported catch […]
Local Perspective on Marine Resource Regulation
A new paper from a human dimensions study on Andros. Here is the Abstract:
Fisheries resources in the Caribbean suffer intense pressure from overharvesting. Some of the most valuable fisheries in The Bahamas, such as queen conch (Strombus gigas), spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), and Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), are overexploited and require additional protection. Despite these pressures, we currently know […]
No-Take Zones in Belize boost populations of conch, lobsters and fish
A report authored by Craig Dahlgren and commissioned by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reviews the benefits of no-take marine reserves (LINK to .pdf). This comprehensive report titled: Belize’s Lobster, Conch, and Fish Populations Rebuild in No-Take Zones, focuses on Belizian reefs, but I imagine these data are very useful for the Bahamas as well. The report is long, ~90 pages, […]
Shrinking conch: size-selective harvest and rapid evolutionary change
Figure 1. Growth of Strombus pugilis, and measures of size and maturity used in this study. (g) is an example of a large mature animal from contemporary populations, while (h) is one of the larger animals from Prehuman populations, exemplifying the shift in size due to human harvest.
A recent paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B (O’Dea et al. 2014) documents a decrease in the mean size of maturity of West Indian Fighting Conch off the coast of Panama. The study compared fossilized material from time periods prior to (7000 YBP) and following early human occupation of the area as well as materials from contemporary populations. […]
BNT Feature Presenters: Melanie Devore and Deborah Freile
Thanks to Melanie for providing this summary of their research and
presentation!
The Bahamas National Conchservation Campaign http://www.bnt.bs/conchservation
has recruited the Bahamian public to join agencies, private entities and researchers
to protect The Bahamas’ favorite beautiful, tasty, mollusk the queen conch. It is not
surprising that there are dozens of research papers on queen conch. However, we
know very little about the general ecology and population structure of other large,
showy gastropods valued in the curio trade. Unlike conchs, helmets and triton are
predatory and their populations may not rebound once they collapse. Likewise, we
know very little regarding the impact of bulk collecting of targeted species used in
shell crafts. During our presentation at the BNT Conference we will be discussing
the nature of commercial shell collecting and showing how some data can be obtained
using online catalogues from large, curio companies. The conservation outlook for the
large, predatory gastropods so far is bleak. The greatest hope for maintaining
populations of these iconic Bahamian mollusks rests in the waters of the Bahamas
MPAs.
Abstract after the jump.
BNT Feature Presenter: Alex Tewfik
We featured Shedd Aquarium post-doc Kristine Stump earlier in the
week, and here another Shedd post-doc Alex Tewfik. His research
will be focused on managing the conch fishery.
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