Status of the Queen Conch on the Windward Islands

Concern for the future of Queen Conch has resulted in a number of regional and international measures, which have been taken to protect them. Trade in Queen Conch came under regulation when the species was listed in Appendix II of CITES in 1992, which prompted “numerous collaborative initiatives to promote its recovery, reduce overfishing and ensure legal, sustainable trade” (CITES, 2017). At the first meeting of the International Queen Conch Initiative in 1996, several Caribbean countries adopted the Declaration of San Juan and thereby pledged to improve regional management of the Queen Conch through harmonized regulations, enhanced communication and the application of scientific advice for the management and assessment of stocks (Daves and Fields 2006). In the Dutch Caribbean, a 4-year PhD project entitled “Queen conch in the Dutch Caribbean Territories (CONDUCT)” aims to improve our understanding of the ecology and life history of the Queen Conch and to provide guidelines for a more sustainable conch fishery. The project, which started in June 2014, is part of the TripleP@Sea and is a collaboration between Wageningen University & Research and Wageningen Marine Research.

This news-item was published in BioNews 10-2017.

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