Government officials have admitted that conch harvesting in the country is taking a dive as years of fishing out the giant snails is taking its toll.
Deputy Director at the Department of Fisheries Edison Deleveaux said years of snagging conchs from heavily populated areas is now having a serious effect on the supply. Mr Deleveaux added that since the species normally grows plentifully in certain areas only, fishers have used this to their advantage.
“For years conchs are continuously being harvested from the same areas,” he said. “These areas have been worked for generations and if we keep on taking the adults out especially near the heavily populated areas, then eventually you’re going to have localised thinning or depletion. Everybody is targeting the same resources. This is what people are complaining about.”
The fisheries official explained that areas in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera are best known for breeding the giant snails in large numbers. He added that while conchs are essential to the commercial and recreational sectors, this localised thinning is causing a great concern for government officials. Mr Deleveaux said while local fishermen, conch stand owners and even tourists who come to The Bahamas on sports fishing permits are forced to use up the resources in the few areas that breed conch in such numbers, the muscular species is taking a hard hit.
“There is continuous pressure being placed on the resources in these areas,” he said. “Conch is essential to the commercial and recreational sectors and to people who visit our country and have obtained fishing licenses.
Illegal foreign fishing is also having an effect and is mostly happening in the southern part of the country. The sports fishing sector tied in with the biology of the species lead to depletion.”
He went on to explain that sometimes, fishermen don’t give the conchs enough time to grow and end up fishing out the species while they are still young, not giving them time to reproduce and replenish the supply.
Mr Deleveaux clarified that it takes three-and-a-half to five years for a conch to reach sexual maturity. The size of the conch does not determine maturity, he said, because in some locations there are very small adult conchs, and in other areas there are very large immature conchs.
With these concerns in mind, Mr Deleveaux said the government will spare no efforts to ensure the conservation of this icon in Bahamian culture.
“The government is now looking at conch in terms of placing new laws around it,” he said. “Especially in terms of closing the season for a period of time, we are looking at exploring certain other management efforts to conserve. With the initiatives we plan to put in place shortly, we are hoping they will give rise to added protection. These initiatives have not been approved so I am not at liberty to say exactly what they are. The minister mentioned the possibility of a closed season, that may be one effort we put in place.”
By: IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
