The Department of Environment and Marine Affairs (DEMA) today Friday October 11, 2013 announced the conch quota for the 2013/2014 season.
In preparation for the upcoming opening of the queen conch (Strombus gigas) fishing season on 15 October, the Department met with the CITES Scientific Authority Committee (SAC), Fisheries Advisory Committee (FAC) and industry stakeholders in order to determine a quota that will allow for the sustainable harvest of queen conch this season, while simultaneously supporting fishing livelihoods.
The department noted that queen conch stocks have been in decline in TCI since the passing of hurricanes Ike and Hannah in 2008. As a result, DEMA will undertake a TCIG-approved project to conduct a Conch Visual Survey (CVS), which will help DEMA to determine current stock characteristics and to estimate a total allowable catch (TAC) that can be sustainably harvested. DEMA has begun preliminary work on the CVS, assisted by international expert Dr. Paul Medley; however, results from the CVS will not be available until next year.
The 2012-2013 catch for queen conch showed some improvement over the previous year’s catch; however, improvements were not significant enough to merit increasing the quota at this time. Therefore, the quota for 2013-2014 will remain as follows:
500,000 lbs. for export
320,000 lbs. for local consumption
1,000,000 shells for export
