Caribbean queen conch (Strombus gigas)

Acknowledgements

Individuals

Bisessar Chakalall, FAO
Adele Crispoldi, FAO
Luca Garibaldi, FAO
Héctor Lupin, FAO
Jeannette Mateo, CARICOM Fisheries Unit
Paul Medley

Institutions

Belize Fisheries Department
The Commonwealth Secretariat
Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Bahamas
Oficina Regional de la OIT (Organización Internacional del Trabajo) para las Américas
TRAFFIC International

Background

The Caribbean queen conch (Strombus gigas) is a gastropod belonging to the Strombidae family. It inhabits the Neotropical Atlantic waters of Bermuda, southern Florida, southern Mexico, the whole Caribbean region, Venezuela and Brazil. The queen conch is easily recognizable by its large pinkish shell, reaching a length of 30 cm and weighing some 2 kg. Its favourite habitats are beds of Turtle grass (Thalassia) and of Manatee grass (Cymodocea) and sand flats at water depths from 1 to 30 m. Strombus gigas mainly feeds on algae, as adults, and plankton as larvae. It may reach some 7 years of age and its main predators include crabs, turtles, sharks, rays and humans (FAO 1977; Theile 2001).

Queen conch fisheries and the international regime

The Strombus gigas has been utilized by humans since prehistoric times. The slow movements of the conch, its pinkish-rose shell, and its frequency in shallow waters make this species an extremely easy target for fishers. Conchs are mainly taken by hand or by simple fishing gears, such as a long pole bearing two metal tines or forks. They are then taken ashore to be cleaned.

The meat is sold either fresh or dried, and used to prepare salads or chowder. The shells are utilized in pottery and jewellery. The queen conch fishery has a long tradition in the Caribbean region, however the commercial fishery has only been expanding since the mid-late seventies. This has been due to the relatively recent increase in demand for Strombus meat both within the Caribbean and in foreign markets. The growing tourism industry has also increased the demand for shells and jewellery.

TRAFFIC reports how the queen conch fishery has been expanding over the last ten years and even developed into a large-scale commercial fishery with almost industrial characteristics in some Caribbean countries (Theile 2002a). In 1992, continuing concerns over the species’ overexploitation led the CITES Member States to list the Caribbean queen conch under CITES Appendix II.

In 1995 the CITES Animals Committee included Strombus gigas in the Review of Significant Trade process following concerns about the continuing growth of the industry, and problems with enforcement in several range states. The Review, performed by CITES and IUCN, concluded that local queen conch populations, and hence fisheries, were threatened, despite the survival of the species as a whole not being at risk. The Review concluded that illegal fishing and trade added pressures to this valuable resource. One of the main recommendations of the Animals Committee was to develop a regional management regime for the species.

On a regional level, the United States’ Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) launched an “informal” regional management regime for Strombus gigas. The activities of CFMC and affiliated institutes include the preparation of studies and formulation of recommendations, with information on these activities being available online at: http://www.strombusgigas.com. On a national level, several countries have been implementing management measures such as the introduction of export quotas and trade bans, and technical measures such as restrictions in the use of scuba and hookah gear by conch fishers.

Upon request of the Caribbean States, concerned about persistent illegal activities and enforcement problems, the CITES Animals Committee, at its 17^th meeting (held in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 30 July to 3 August 2001) recommended the inclusion of the species in the Review of Significant Trade once again. The 2001 Review included the following priorities:

- gathering of information on queen conch management systems, national legislation and enforcement, trade control, and any relevant resource assessment;

- specialized training for CITES enforcement officers in the Caribbean sub-region in species identification, species labelling, legislative review, effective trade control, database administration;

- development of liaison between national and international authorities;

- improvement of communication between parties in the Caribbean sub-region;

- assistance to smaller states in resolving enforcement constraints.

The first phase of the Review of Significant Trade, completed in spring 2002, was aimed at providing an overview of current management practices for the species in the Caribbean. It has been partly funded by the European Commission and implemented with the assistance of TRAFFIC. One of the outputs has been the technical report “Queen conch fisheries and their management in the Caribbean”, by Stephanie Theile, TRAFFIC Europe (Theile 2001).

During the second phase of the Review, TRAFFIC Europe, in cooperation with other international experts, has been compiling and analysing information on the biological and trade status of the species and circulated a draft report to all range states and experts for peer review. Once completed, the report will assist the CITES Animals Committee in formulating recommendations to help range states to improve the management of the species and comply with article IV of CITES on the regulation of trade in specimens of species listed in Appendix II (Theile 2002a). The ultimate aim would be to establish a regional conservation and management strategy (CITES 2002).

Table 1: CITES voluntary export quotas for queen conch^[25].

NB: According to Notification 1999/19 (CITES 1999a), the 41^st CITES Standing Committee agreed to recommend that Parties not accept imports of specimens of the species in question from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Under the 2002 Review of Significant Trade, the recommendation has been withdrawn for Saint Lucia, provided the country establishes a cautious annual export quota (CITES 2002).

Queen conch landings and international trade

The FAO database Fishstat + has been the main data source used for the analysis of queen conch production and trade figures. However data on Belize have been provided by FAO FIDI. These data are still provisional and have not yet been registered in Fishstat + (March 2003).The database only provides data on landings of “Stromboid conchs nei (not elsewhere included)” and trade data on “Univalves”, the latter being classified as “conch” by the national description of Fishstat + entries (FAO FIDI data). However, it can easily be assumed that “stromboid conchs nei” or “conch” data mostly overlap with queen conch data due to:

- the predominance of queen conch landings and trade in comparison to landings and trade of other conchs;

- the geographic provenance of data: traditional queen conch producing countries in the Western Central Atlantic.

Landings of stromboid conchs nei (Strombus spp.) in the Western Central Atlantic^[26] increased from 1 200 MT in 1970 to the record peak of 16 857 MT in 2000, with fluctuations in the mid-eighties and at the beginning of the nineties (see Figure 1). However, Fishstat + data do not include conch landings in the United States, but according to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), United States’ landings of “Snails (Conchs)” increased from 433.9 MT in 1970 to 1 292 MT in 2001, peaking in 1994 at 3 319 MT (NMFS landings data).

Countries should provide Fishstat + with live weight conch data, but many of them provide meat weight data. This complicates the analysis, as the meat content of the animal is only 7 to 8 percent of its total live weight. Cuban landings totalled 831 MT in 1999 and were estimated at 830 MT in 2000; these data are based on a live weight calculation. On the other hand, a note on the 2000 FAO Yearbook on Fishery Statistics - Capture production mentions that conch catch data in Jamaica were registered on a meat weight basis (FAO FIDI 2002).

Exports^[27] of conch, whether fresh, frozen or chilled, from developing countries in the Western Central Atlantic area, followed an almost constantly growing trend from 183 MT, corresponding to US$689 000 in 1979, to 698 MT, corresponding to little less than US$5.4 million in 1997. In 1998 univalves exports declined to 351 MT, corresponding to circa US$3.87 million, to recover in the following years and reach 545 MT, equivalent to circa US$4.5 million in 2000 (see Figure 2 [a] and [b]).

Values in Figure 2 (a) and (b) were provided to Fishstat + by developing countries exporting conch in the Western Central Atlantic area^[28], excluding Jamaica. The Jamaican Government had all its data on exports of molluscs merged under the general heading “molluscs nei”. In the previous version of Fishstat +, containing data up to 1999, importers of Jamaican commodities had provided data on exports of processed univalves from Jamaica over the 1995-1999 period. These figures had to be substituted with the official data provided by the Jamaican Government in 2002 (FAO FIDI, Pers. Comm.).

The United States are the main world importer of conchs, recorded in Fishstat + as “univalves, fresh or chilled, nei”. United States imports of fresh/chilled conch totalled 975MT in 2000, equivalent to US$5.9 million (Fishstat + data)^[29] and 1 250 MT in 2001, equivalent to US$6.6 million (NMFS trade data).

Figure 1: Total landings of Strombus spp. in the Western Central Atlantic, 1970-2000.

Figure 2 (a) and (b): Exports of conch from Western Central Atlantic developing countries, 1979-2000.

(a) exports of conch from Western Central Atlantic developing countries, quantity 1979-2000

(b) exports of conch from Western Central Atlantic developing countries, value 1979-2000

Captive breeding

Overexploitation of wild queen conch stocks led the United States, Mexican and Caribbean fishing industries to develop conch aquaculture strategies. In the Caribbean, queen conch culture has been practiced since 1984 at the Caicos Conch Farm in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In the United States, the Florida Straits Conch Company opened in Key West in 1999. The company performs both research and commercial activities. In Merida, Mexico, the Aquaculture Division of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution performs aquaculture research and public education (Harbor Branch Oceanographic 2002).

Conch hatcheries

The United States Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is operating a stock rehabilitation hatchery for Strombus gigas at the Keys Marine Laboratory at Long Key, Florida. The first experimental releases of farmed specimens in the wild did not meet the expected results as released conchs were very vulnerable to predators. Further experimental releases in 1999 have been more successful as scientists introduced the timing factor as one of the variables to be considered prior to the release. Researchers at Long Key indeed estimated that juvenile conchs would have had more opportunities to survive if released during winter, when conch predators are scarcer, and prior to the new moon, as the darker environment would have hidden the conch to predators. Survival during the tests that followed ranged from a low of 0 percent for small size juveniles during the spring season to a high of 49.7 percent of larger juveniles during autumn (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary 2001).

The queen conch fisheries in range states

This section aims to assess the economic and social value of queen conch fisheries for producing countries. The countries have been selected according to their developing country status^[30] and the relative importance of conch fisheries and international conch trade for their economies.

The main sources utilized for general data have been the UN Statistics Division, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), FAO and the World Bank. The main source for fishery landings, trade and employment data has been FAO, which relies on data provided by its Member States and Observers.

Bahamas

In the Bahamas, the queen conch fishery represents a supplementary income-generating activity for fishers during the closed season for spiny lobster (the largest fishery in the archipelago), from 1 April to 31 July each year, particularly in the islands of Abaco, Grand Bahama and Andros. It is a largely artisanal activity, undertaken by small boats in shallow waters throughout the shallow banks (CARICOM Fishery Resources Assessment and Management Programme, CFRAMP, in press; Table 3). The level of harvest is determined by the export quota accorded by government. In reality once the quota has been exceeded, a meaningful market for the species ceases to exist (Department of Fisheries of the Bahamas, Pers. Comm.).

Spiny lobster fisheries make up some two thirds of total Bahamian landings and employ most of the fisheries workforce (Gascoigne 2002). Therefore, during the closed season queen conch fisheries provide the main source of income and employment for most commercial fishers.

Using FAO (FAO FIDI data) it is possible to estimate the number of queen conch fishers both full time and during the spiny lobster closed season. The number of Bahamian fishers amounts to 12 600. In 2000, their estimated landings were 10 600 MT, of which 8 225 MT spiny lobster and 472 MT conchs (Fishstat + data). Thus one can estimate a number of 9 800 fishers being employed in the spiny lobster fishery (and in the conch fishery during the closure of the lobster fishery), and 400 fishers employed full time in the conch fishery. MacAlister, Elliott and Partners Ltd. (MEP) confirm that artisanal conch fishing is of great economic and social importance in all Bahamian islands and on the Family Island in particular (Gascoigne 2002).

Due to the limited period of intensive fishing, pressures on queen conch stocks are thought to be relatively sustainable. Recently, the Bahamian Fisheries Department assessed the stocks as healthy (CFMC and CFRAMP 1999).

Landings of stromboid conchs in the Bahamas increased from 100 MT in 1970, to 322 MT in 1980, 335 MT in 1990, and eventually reached 670 MT in 1998 followed by a decline to 472 MT in 1999 and 2000^[31] (Fishstat + data), as shown in Figure 3. This also shows the peaks reached by conch landings in 1985 (541 MT) and 1994 (693 MT). Its contribution to total catch in the Bahamas has remained significantly stable over time, from 4.7 percent in 1970, to 6.4 percent in 1980, to 4.5 percent in 1990 and 4.45 percent in 2000.

Figure 3: Landings of Strombus spp. in the Bahamas, 1970-2000.

According to the Department of Fisheries of the Bahamian Ministry of Agriculture total conch landings in 2001 were 1 449 578 lbs (equivalent to 657.5 MT) for a value of BS$4.32 million, equivalent to US$4.37 million (see Table 2). They were second only to spiny lobster (Department of Fisheries of the Bahamas, Pers. Comm.).

Table 2: Bahamian production of conch, 1995-2001 (source: Department of Fisheries of the Bahamas, Pers. Comm.).

Export data for conch are only available from 1992. From 1992 to 1998 these were provided as “univalves, fresh or chilled, nei”and in 1999 and 2000 as “univalves nei, frozen” (Fishstat + data). According to Fishstat +, exports from the Bahamas increased from 2 MT for a value of US$9 000 in 1992, to 357 MT, for a value of some US$1.84 million in 1994. They subsequently fell to 32 MT in 1999 for a value of US$180 000. In 2000 exports started to grow again reaching an estimated 84 MT for a value of US$672 000 (Figure 4 [a] and [b]).

Figure 4 (a) and (b): Exports of conch from the Bahamas, 1992-2000.

(a) exports of conch from the Bahamas, quantity 1992-2000

(b) exports of conch from the Bahamas, value 1992-2000

Belize

The Strombus gigas is an important source of food and income in Belize. Historically, it has been an important source of foreign exchange through large-scale export. However, conch fisheries in Belize have experienced a serious decline from the late seventies, mainly due to over exploitation. This led the government to set size and gear restrictions, closed seasons (from 1 July to 30 September), no-take areas and zones with carefully regulated fishing. However, these measures did not achieve the expected results, mostly because of the incidence of illegal harvesting and inadequate protection for juveniles^[32] (Green Reef 2002).

Catch data indicate a decrease in landings from 800 MT in 1970, to 330 MT in 1980, to eventually stabilize around an average of 195 MT per year in the following 20 years, then increase to 233 MT in 2000 (Figure 5). According to the Belizean Fisheries Department, the value of queen conch landings has been estimated at US$2.3 million, amounting to 26 percent of total fisheries GDP from Belize (Belize Fisheries Department, Pers. Comm.). The Department estimated that in 2001, 1 536 registered fishers out of 3 000 took part in the lobster and conch fisheries (Belize Fisheries Department, Pers. Comm.), therefore the reef fishery appears to be one of the most important in the country, at least from a social perspective. Alternative data provided by the Fisheries Unit of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) estimates 1 800 fishers and 550 shallow-water vessels (canoes) are employed in the Belizean queen conch fishery (CFRAMP, in press; Table 3).

Figure 5: Landings of Strombus spp. in Belize, 1970-2000.

According to FAO FIDI provisional data, Belize is the main exporter of conch among developing countries in the Western Central Atlantic area. Exports, classified as “univalves nei, frozen”(Figure 6 [a] and [b]), increased from 183 MT in 1979, equivalent to US$689 000, to 256 MT in 2000, equivalent to almost US$2 million.

Figure 6 (a) and (b): Exports of conch from Belize, 1979-2000.

(a) exports of conch from Belize, quantity 1979-2000

Figure (b) exports of conch from Belize, value 1979-2000

Cuba

Queen conch occurs on the Cuban continental shelf, in keys and reef areas from shallow waters to the edge of the shelf, both in the north and on the south coast. Cuba has a long tradition of commercial conch fishing. However, due to over exploitation leading to a depletion of stocks, the queen conch fishery was closed from 1977 to 1982^[33]. Currently, harvest takes place from small boats using free diving techniques. Compressors and scuba gear are prohibited, and the fishery is closed from May to September. Minimum size and depth limits regulations are aimed at avoiding catch of juveniles and deeper water reproductive individuals (Formoso Garcia 2001).

Harvests of stromboid conchs increased from 77 MT in 1982 to 764 MT in 1983. In the following years, they declined reaching 31 MT in 1986. Catch recovered to 240 MT in 1989 followed by a new drop to 32 MT in 1995 and a sudden increase to a record production of 1 234 MT in 1997. In 1998 the queen conch fisheries were closed. Recorded landings totalled 487 MT that year, presumably from minor conch species. In 2000, conch landings were estimated as 830 MT (Figure 7). Over the last three years, they have averaged 1.1 percent of total Cuban catch.

However, as CFMC reports (CFMC and CFRAMP 1999), since the product is landed in the shell and the meat weight is approximately 7 to 8 percent of the total landed weight, it is likely that conch harvests for human consumption did not exceed 100 MT, even in 1997. In fact, the Cuban Government reported landings of 1 000 MT live weight, corresponding to some 75 MT of clean meat for human consumption (Formoso Garcia 2001). During the closed season of 1998, the Strombus gigas stock was assessed and the conch Total Allowable Catch (TAC) set at 800 MT live weight, equivalent to some 51 MT of meat. Illegal fishing was estimated at 50-60 MT live weight per year (Formoso Garcia 2001).

Fishstat + provides no data on the export of univalves from Cuba.

Figure 7: Landings of Strombus spp. in Cuba, 1982-2000.

Dominican Republic

The Strombus gigas fishery is a historically important resource for the Dominican Republic. In a series of studies in the Catalinita and Saona Islands (Vega 1987), Dominican archaeologists discovered and photographed great conch piles, called conchales or concheros, demonstrating the economic importance of Strombus gigas for the ancient populations inhabiting the island as well as for modern fishermen.

The queen conch is a commercial fishery. Landings are mainly processed for domestic consumption but also for export to the United States (Theile 2001). Considering that in 2000 Dominican landings totalled 11 029 MT, and the estimated number of fishers was 9 500, it can be estimated that some 1 530 fishers depend on conch landings.

According to the literature cited by Stephanie Theile in her technical report “Queen conch fisheries and their management in the Caribbean” (Theile 2001), the queen conch populations in the Dominican Republic are seriously overfished. Following the CITES listing, several conservation initiatives were launched, including a closed season over the period 1 July to 31 October, each year as from 1999 (CITES 1999b).

Stromboid conch landings in the Dominican Republic (Fishstat + data) averaged around 156 MT per year over the period 1970-1978. They increased to 1 798 MT in 1985, declined to 577 MT in 1987 and then grew to 5 583 MT in 1989. In the following years, with the exception of 1994 and 1998, catches followed a declining trend to 1 257 MT in 1999 and 1 778 MT in 2000 (Figure 8). In 1998 catches were 2 683 MT, equivalent to 29.6 percent of total marine production in the country, the highest percentage ever reached as against 16.4 percent in 2000. The average, during the period 1970-2000, was 12.4 percent (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Landings of Strombus spp. in the Dominican Republic, a comparison with Dominican marine landings, 1970-2000.

The period 1998-2000 is the only one with relevant values or estimates on trade in conch from the Dominican Republic (Figure 9 [a] and [b]). Over this period “univalves, fresh or chilled, nei” were among the three most traded commodities (Fishstat + data). In 1998, conch represented 33 percent in quantity and 11 percent in value of total fisheries exports; equivalent figures for 1999 were, respectively, 71 percent and 33 percent and for 2000, 58 percent and 29 percent, which translates to an estimated 202 MT of conch, equivalent to US$266 000 (Fishstat + data)

Figure 9 (a) and (b): Exports of conch from the Dominican Republic, a comparison with total exports of fish commodities from the Dominican Republic, 1998-2000.

(a) exports of conch from the Dominican Republic, quantity 1998-2000

(b) exports of conch from the Dominican Republic, value 1998-2000

Jamaica

Historically the queen conch fishery has been the island’s most important fishery, landing 2 850 MT in 1996 (Figure 10) and being a major source of foreign exchange. The principal actors in the Jamaican conch fishery are:

1. Industrial fishers, large producers using vessels of 25-30 m, mainly leased from other countries such as the United States, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Fishers use scuba/hookah diving to capture conch in depths of up to 25 m. Industrial fishers are allowed 80 percent of the annual TAC. They also process conch for the export market;

2. Offshore artisanal fishers, who use smaller boats and scuba/hookah diving equipments in depths of some 15 m. They sell conch to processors, local traders and, to a lesser extent, to local markets. They are allowed 20 percent of the annual TAC;

3. Mainland artisanal fishers, who dive for conch on the island shelf, where industrial fishing is not permitted. Their catch is mainly destined for local consumption. These landings are not included in the TAC.

(CFMC and CFRAMP 1999).

According to the CARICOM Fisheries Unit, in the industrial fishery 332 fishers are employed in 11 vessels of around 25m and 50 to more than 100 in the artisanal fishery (CFRAMP, in press). During the period 1988-1999, the conch fishery averaged 17.8 percent of Jamaican marine catch per year, becoming the most important single species fishery in the island (Figure 10) particularly since, according to the FAO Yearbook, catch data for stromboid conchs nei are expressed on a “meat weight” basis (FAO FIDI 2002), therefore net of the shell.

Figure 10: Landings of Strombus spp. in Jamaica, a comparison with Jamaican marine landings, 1988-2000.

FAO Fishstat + 1999 update suggests that trade in univalve products from Jamaica reached the peak of 1 205 MT in 1998 for a value of US$5.4 million. In 1999 exports totalled 904 MT, equivalent to US$3.8 million (FAO FIDI data).

In 2002, the Jamaican Government provided export data covering “molluscs nei, frozen” to the Fishstat + database. This substituted data on “univalves” which had been provided by the importing countries, not by the exporting country itself (FAO FIDI, Pers. Comm.). According to the new Fishstat + data, Jamaican exports of molluscs nei, frozen, totalled 2 133 MT, equivalent to US$9.3 million in 1995, 1 645 MT, equivalent to US$7.5 million in 1997, and 1 376 MT, equivalent to US$6.8 million in 1998. No data was provided for 1996, 1999 and 2000.

Before the listing of queen conch under CITES Appendix II, the conch fishery was unmanaged. In 1993, Jamaica established a quota system. In 1994, due to the high level of meat exported from Jamaica, the CITES Animals Committee requested the introduction of a management plan.

The Jamaican management plan for queen conch includes five objectives:

1. to monitor and control conch captures in order to ensure maximum sustainable yield;

2. to rehabilitate overexploited stocks;

3. to add value to conch through sophisticated processing;

4. to maximize foreign currency earnings from exports;

5. to ensure adequate supply for local consumption by residents and tourists.

The plan’s main elements provide for restrictions on the number of motor fishing vessels, an annual four-months closed season (1 July to 31 October), a quota management system and an exclusive fishing zone for artisanal conch fishers, i.e. the island shelf of Jamaica and the waters extending five nautical miles offshore. Further, the plan allows for restrictions on the importation of scuba and hookah fishing gears (CFMC and CFRAMP 1999).

In 1999, a dispute seriously threatened the Jamaican conch industry (resulting in the almost zero level of landings for the year 2000 as shown in Figure 10). Some large Jamaican fishing companies had sought extension to their 1998/99 TACs. However, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority^[34] refused to follow up their request. The companies then retaliated by seeking court injunctions to force the government’s agencies to permit continued conch harvesting.

However the Court of Appeal ordered the Minister of Environment to cancel the reopening of the conch season pending the enactment of new legislation to protect Strombus gigas. Subsequently, in December 1999, the Minister of Environment prepared the Inland, Marine Products and By-Products Act which included the provision for the granting of fishing licences and implementation of a quota system. Nevertheless on 1 January 2000, the main fishing company of the island, not entirely satisfied with the proposed quotas, decided not to recommence operations. In the meantime though, the EU had approved the importation of conch and shrimp from Jamaica, thereby creating the conditions for an increase in demand and prices of these products. On 18 April the fishing companies withdrew their injunction, paving the way for the reopening of the industry. The industry accepted the quotas set under the framework of the new Act and the fishery was re-opened during the first week of May 2001 (ENS 2001).

Mexico

This Central American State has a long-established and important conch fishery. Up to 1986, stromboid catches encompassed several species, including queen conch, milk conch (Strombus costatus), Florida horse conch (Pleuropoca gigantean), West Indian chank (Turbinella angulatus) and lightning whelk (Busycon contrarium). The main producing States were Yucatan and Quintana Roo. From 1987 however, the only species fished is queen conch, on the Chinchorro and Cozumel banks.

TACs have been assigned in Quintana Roo since 1976 and since 1981 access to conch fishing has been restricted to fishers belonging to co-operatives. The steady decline in catch in the Yucatan led to the closure of commercial conch fisheries in the area as from 1987. The results of a stock assessment carried out in 1994 were not conducive to the re-opening of the fishery (Mexican Government through Chakalall, Pers. Comm.).

Queen conch fishers are grouped in co-operatives: in the 1996-1997 fishing year 94 fishers were grouped in the Chinchorro bank co-operative and 42 in the Cozumel bank co-operative. However, these numbers vary each year and estimates suggest the presence of 120 fishers in the Chinchorro bank and 50 in the Cozumel bank, all members of the co-operatives. These data are only indicative, as there are licensed conch fishermen who do not use their licenses and also the presence of unlicensed relatives of members fishing in the same boat. The Mexican government calculated the presence of 38 boats in the Chinchorro bank and 15 in the Cozumel bank. These boats are six to eight metres long, motorized, from 48 to 55 HP (Mexican Government through Chakalall, Pers. Comm.).

Mexican legislation established catch, size and gear limits for Strombus gigas. Authorized fishing gears are snorkelling and scuba. Currently, total queen conch landings should not exceed 57 MT per year, of which 45 MT should come from the Chinchorro bank and 12 MT from the Cozumel bank. The quotas are uniformly divided over the six months of the fishing season, lasting from November to April. Conch fishing takes place over 2 to 5 days per month (Mexican Government through Chakalall, Pers. Comm.).

The total volume of landings recorded in Fishstat + (Figure 11) does not seem compatible with the figures provided by the Mexican Government. Indeed Figure 11 suggests that Mexico has the highest landings of “stromboid conchs nei” in the whole Western Central Atlantic^[35]. According to this data landings of Strombus spp. amount to 8 295 MT in 2000, making some one half of total stromboid conch production in the Western Central Atlantic for the same year (see Figure 11).

Figure 11: Mexican landings of Strombus spp., a comparison with Strombus spp. landings in the Western Central Atlantic, 1970-2000.

Fishstat + does not provide any data for conch exports from Mexico.

Turks and Caicos Islands

The conch industry in the archipelago dates back to last century when catch was mainly exported to Haiti. In the seventies the first fishing corporations started to export live and processed conchs to the United States. The status of the conch fishery partly reflects that of the spiny lobster fishery, as fishers have tended to switch to conch as a consequence of poor lobster catch rates (CFMC and CFRAMP 1999).

The conch fishery is the most important in the Turks and Caicos Islands, providing an average of around 49 percent of total catches over the period 1974-2000. In 1998 it reached a peak of around 60 percent (Figure 12). As the fishery sector on the islands is mostly artisanal and landings are mainly composed of conchs and other coastal species, queen conch fishing represents a source of food and income for the quasi totality of the 1 491 occasional fishers and 70 part-time fishers reported in 1993 and certainly a number of full time fishers.

Figure 12: Landings of Strombus spp. in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a comparison with marine landings in the archipelago, 1970-2000.

From a biological point of view, the conch fishery in the Turks and Caicos Islands appears to be in a good state. Following the CITES listing, and with assistance from the United States, the government implemented a series of initiatives including stock assessments and quotas (Medley, Pers. Comm.)

Available Fishstat + data on exports of univalves from the Turks and Caicos Islands^[36] suggest that trade reached a peak of 480 MT for an estimated US$2.8 million in 1995, then declined slightly, recovering in 2000 (Figure 13 [a] and [b]). In 2000 exports were estimated at 279 MT, for a value of around US$1.6 million (Fishstat + data). As the figures below suggest, exports of univalve products from the Turks and Caicos made up 47.7 percent in quantity and 41.2 percent in value of fish commodities exported each year over the period 1995- 2000 (Fishstat + data).

Figure 13 (a) and (b): Exports of conch from the Turks and Caicos Islands, a comparison with total exports of fish commodities from the archipelago, 1995-2000.

(a) exports of conch from the Turks and Caicos Islands, quantity 1995-2000

(b) exports of conch from the Turks and Caicos Islands, value 1995-2000

“Stromboid conchs nei” also includes farmed conchs, certainly production from the Caicos Conch Farm (see the “captive breeding” section). However, farmed conch production declined from 360 MT in 1987, equivalent to US$864 000, to 5 estimated MT in 2000, equivalent to an estimated US$55 000 (Fishstat + data).

Conclusions

The literature and statistics consulted in the preparation of this paper show how, following the CITES listing, range states adopted management and technical measures aimed at keeping queen conch stocks at sustainable levels. However, implementation of the CITES regime and of subsequent national measures has been experiencing some difficulties, and a large element of illegal fishing and trade still persists (CFMC and CFRAMP 1999).

According to FAO FIDI data, prior to the nineties, Belize was the sole exporter of univalve products and received considerable revenues from this particular trade. From 1993 onwards, other exporters started to penetrate the markets: Bahamas from 1992, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Dominican Republic from 1995. World exports of univalves from developing countries in the Western Central Atlantic were worth some US$5.4 million in 1997 compared to US$ 742 000 in 1990. Revenues declined to some US$2.8 million in 1999 then recovered to US$4.54 million in 2000 (see also Figure 2 [b]). Belize, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Dominican Republic have been the main exporters^[37] among developing countries in the Western Central Atlantic area over the period 1995-2000.

In the Bahamas, for 9 800 spiny lobster fishers queen conch represents the main source of food and income during the spiny lobster closed season. An estimated 400 fishers depend on conch fishing all year round.

In Belize queen conch landings generate job and income opportunities for the 1 536 fishers involved in the spiny lobster and conch fisheries, while according to the CARICOM Fisheries Unit 1 800 fishers are in the conch fishery. Provisional FAO FIDI data report revenues of US$2 million generated conch exports in 2000.

Cuba and Mexico have large conch fishery industries. Cuban landings were estimated at 830 t in 2000 and Mexican landings at 8 295 t. However, no conch exports from these countries have been recorded in Fishstat +.

In the Dominican Republic the conch industry landed 1 778 MT in 2000, equivalent to 16.4 percent of total marine catch in the island. This generated income for an estimated 1 530 fishers. Conch exports were estimated at 202 MT, for a value of US$266 000. Revenues from conch exports comprised 29 percent of total export value of fish products in the year 2000.

Jamaica’s overall fishery sector comprises 24 365 fishers, of which 332 industrial and between 50 and more than 100 artisanal operators depend on the queen conch fishery. According Fishstat +, Jamaica had a largely export-oriented univalves production up to 1999, with an export value of US$5.4 million in 1998.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are, among the case studies presented, the most dependent on the conch fisheries. It is the most important fishery of the archipelago in terms of landings, generating an average of 50 percent of total catch every year. Exports of univalves made up 47.7 percent in quantity and 41.2 percent in value of total fish commodities exported annually from the archipelago over the period 1995-2000. The queen conch fishery represents the most important source of food and income for the 1 561 part-time and occasional fishers living and working in the archipelago and certainly a number of full time fishers.

The persisting difficulties in implementing the CITES regime, and the diffused presence of illegal fishing and trade, paved the way for a second Review of Significant Trade, recommended in 2001. The analytical stage of review has just been completed. During the next stage TRAFFIC Europe, IUCN and international and national experts will assist the CITES Animals Committee in formulating recommendations to help range states to improve the management of the species and comply with article IV of CITES (Theile 2002b).

Table 3 below presents further information on the queen conch fishery in the Caribbean. The table has been kindly provided by the CARICOM Fisheries Unit, and is an extract from the forthcoming final report of the CFRAMP Conch and Lobster Terminal Workshop, held in July 2001 (Mateo, Pers. Comm., CFRAMP, in press).

Table 3: Description of Fishing Fleet targeting Strombus gigas (adapted from CFRAMP [in press]).

Table 4: Economic and social aspects of the conch fishery in developing countries of the Western Central Atlantic area (2000 data and estimates, source FAO except when explicitly stated).

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