Lobatus Gigas - Threats and Conservation Measures

Threats and Conservation Measures

Within the conch fisheries, one of the threats to sustainability stems from the fact that there is almost as much meat in large juveniles as there is in adults, but only adult conchs can reproduce and thus build up a population. In many places where adult conchs have become rare due to overfishing, larger juveniles and subadult animals are taken by the fishermen before the snails have had a chance to mate and lay eggs.

On a number of islands, subadult conchs form the vast majority of the harvest. The abundance of Lobatus gigas is declining throughout the species' range as a result of overfishing and poaching, and populations of the species in Honduras, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, in particular, are currently being exploited at rates that may be unsustainable. In fact, trade from many Caribbean countries is known or suspected to be unsustainable, and illegal harvest, including fishing of the species in foreign waters and subsequent illegal international trade, is a common and widespread problem in the region. The Caribbean "International Queen Conch Initiative" is an attempt at a fisheries management scheme for this species.

The queen conch fishery is usually managed under the regulations of individual nations. In the United States all taking of queen conch is prohibited in Florida and in adjacent Federal waters. No international regional fishery management organization exists in the whole Caribbean area, but in places such as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, queen conch is regulated under the auspices of the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC). In 1990, the Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention) included queen conch in Annex II of its Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW Protocol) as a species that may be used on a rational and sustainable basis and that requires protective measures. Because of this recognition, in 1992 the United States proposed queen conch for listing in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); this proposal was adopted, and queen conch became the first large-scale fisheries product to be regulated by CITES.

Although this species has been mentioned in CITES since 1985 and has been listed in Appendix II since 1992, it is only since 1995 that CITES has been reviewing the biological and trade status of the queen conch (Note: this species is known by the name Strombus gigas in CITES) under its "Significant Trade Review" process. Significant Trade Reviews are undertaken when there is concern about levels of trade in an Appendix II species. Based on the 2003 review, CITES recommended that all countries prohibit the importation of queen conch from Honduras, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, according to Standing Committee Recommendations. Queen conch meat continues to be available from many other Caribbean countries, including Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands (British West Indies), which have well-managed queen conch fisheries.