The conch is not only a cultural icon In the Bahamas, but also has become a food staple and a major contributor to the tourism and fishery industries. (Sherman, K. D. et al 2018). Conch are mollusks, which is an invertebrate animal that has a soft body with a hard exterior. They are also one of the largest gastropods, which are in the same family as snails and slugs. Conch are algae grazers, making them a primary consumer on the trophic pyramid of their ecosystem, consuming the primary producers. Due to their diet consisting of algae, conch live on the seafloor, making them benthic when they reach their adulthood (Ecology 2022).

Despite many efforts taken, the conch fishery in The Bahamas is not sustainable. Conch have density dependent mating systems, meaning there has to be a certain density of conch organisms in the area in order for conch to find each other to reproduce. (Ecology 2022). Due to overfishing and multitudes of illegal conch being harvested, the population of conch is quickly declining and not recovering (The Queen Conch: True Bahamian Royalty). In Cape Eleuthera, 52.4% of the harvest conch recorded were illegal catches. In addition, 22.8% were not mature, despite being legal, meaning they did not have a chance to reproduce. In smaller settlements, such as Wemyss Bight, only 0.6% of conch were legal catch and mature. Although in larger places, like McLean’s Town in Grand Bahama, the legal and mature catch was 69%. Due to a small amount of mature catch, the population does not have a chance to revive, as it is getting overfished. (Stoner et al. 2019). Although, it is still legal to harvest conch that are not mature, making the fishery unsustainable; “The research showed that a viable fishery for queen conch in the Bahamas might only last another ten years, unless significant measures are taken to cut fishing pressure.” (Gibbens 2019). If action is not taken soon, the livelihood of many will be at stake.

Currently, there are few regulations for fishing conch in The Bahamas, which is leading to the collapse of the industry. Conch can not be harvested until the lip has flared, meaning a conch is an adult, although it is not reproductively mature until the lip is 15 mm thick. A lip flare is the lip of a conch turning outwards. Additionally, harvesting conch while scuba diving is illegal. Conch also cannot be exported without a license and non commercial exports are limited to ten pounds per person. Foreign sports fishermen are limited to ten conch per person. (Department of Fisheries). Although, due to the industry being mostly small scale individuals fishing, it becomes hard to enforce regulations. Since the majority of the conch fishing industry is individuals rather than large businesses, it is harder to enforce regulations because of the numerous small scale fishers (Ecology 2022). In a survey conducted in the Guard Shack midden and the
Boathouse midden, which is a pile of knocked conch. In total, 7% of the conch at the Guard Shack were reproductively mature and 22% for the Boathouse. Even though these were the only adults able to reproduce, 41% of the conch at the Guard Shack and 60% at the Boathouse were legal. Similar to the survey conducted in the Bahamian islands, the population is declining because the conch do not have a chance to replace themselves before being harvested. There is still a high percentage of illegal conch as 59% and 40% of conch that are harvested in the Guard Shack midden and Boathouse midden are illegal, respectively. This means that these conch are roller conch or juvenile, meaning their lip has not flared. When conch are juvenile, they are less protected from predation and less stable because their shell is not fully formed. (Ecology 2022).This also shows a low compliance as regulations are not followed. Although, as demand for conch is increasing, it is not feasible for fishermen to follow these guidelines in order to make a living. From 1970-80 there was a dramatic increase in conch fishing, as it went from less than 1000 to more than 3000 tons of Queen conch landings per year. This could be due to Bahamian independence and the recently banned conch fishing in Florida, which increases exports to the US. The majority of this growth was from 1978 to 1982 from 1500 to about 4000 tons per year. After the significant increase, the growth stabilized for the next few years. Two major drops in Queen conch landing occurred in 1990 to 2000 tons per year and 2007 to 3000 tons per year. Although there is steady decline from 2012 on, representing danger to the population. Since there are less Queen conch being exported, it shows signs that the population has declined, resulting in a threat to fishermen’s livelihood (Moultrie, S. et al. 2016).

Conchs are an essential part of not only the marine ecosystem, but also the culture and economy of the Bahamas (Sherman, K. D. et al 2018). Conchs are a keystone species, meaning they regulate the trophic pyramid. By grazing on algae, it allows for corals and other organisms that occupy the same niche to be controlled. In addition, this stabilizes every other level of the trophic pyramid by allowing for an effective predator to prey ratio. If the conch population were to decline dramatically or become locally extinct, a trophic cascade would occur in the ecosystem. A trophic cascade is when one level of the trophic pyramid is disrupted, disturbing all other levels, which causes dramatic changes in the environment. (Ecology 2022).The decline of conch would not only cause a catastrophe in the ecosystem, but also in the ecosystem’s service. Conch are extremely valuable to the economy. They are in high demand due to the local extinction of conches in other regions of the world. 553, 410 pounds of conch meat were exported in 2014. This is equivalent to over 3 million USD. Not only does this give job opportunities to fishers, but also job opportunities for those working in packing and exporting. One percent of the Bahamian population gains a living directly through the conch fishery, this survey is not including personal food. Although, fishing for conch is necessary food production for Bahamian people (Moultrie, S. et al. 2016). Another
way conch fishing is beneficial is due to tourism. Tourism contributes around 44 percent to the GDP, in 2014. Conch fishing is important for food production, allowing for tourism to thrive in the Bahamas and more job opportunities (Sherman, K. D. et al 2018). Not only is its economical value high, but also its cultural value. Since the Lucayans, conch fishing has been around. This has become a cultural icon for the Bahamas and a food staple (Sherman, K. D. et al 2018). Without the conch fishing industry, many job opportunities, sources of income, and food production would be lost. This would cause an rise of issues for the Bahamian people and their culture.

Overfishing of conch has created a strain in reproduction of the mollusks, due to their life cycle. Conch are R-selected animals, meaning they produce many offspring that require little to no parental care, reserving energy. Due to this, only few survive until maturity. When first produced, conches start off their life in the pelagic larvae stage, allowing them to travel far distances for distribution and dispersal, as they travel along with the currents. Additionally, this dispersal allows for less competition to occur between each of the offspring, allowing for a greater success rate. After its pelagic larvae stage, a conch becomes a roller conch, meaning the lip has not flared yet. The smooth calcium carbonate shell allows for a beneficial shape for the conch to travel far distances and protect the conch from predators it might encounter. The predators of a conch being humans, nurse sharks, and loggerhead turtles. Their shells protects their soft body from being sucked out by predators, as their body is attached to their shell. The next stage is the flaring of the lip, making it legal to harvest. The conch is not mature until its lip is 15 mm thick, meaning it can reproduce. Conch can only reproduce in areas with high density, or else it makes it difficult for the conch to find each other. When areas are overfished, the conch population has trouble reviving because of this reason (Ecology 2022).

The current regulations for conch fishing have the potential to stabilize the conch population, although the regulations are somewhat unreasonable. The current regulations should result in a stable population over time because it prevents fishers from taking multiple conch from one place, by not being allowed to scuba dive and harvest conch. This allows for conch to be able to produce more efficiently, as they rely on the density of an area. Over time this allows for conch to rebuild their population. Additionally, other measures are taken in order to maintain a high density of conch in one area, “For recreational fisheries, foreign vessels are assigned bag limits that restrict harvest to 6 conch per vessel at any time” (Sherman, K. D. et al 2018). Although measures are taken and managed by the Government Of the Bahamas, specifically the Department of Marine Resources, change needs to happen before the industry collapses (Sherman, K. D. et al 2018).These regulations are not completely reasonable because many fishers depend on their profit from the conch. As a result, they turn to harvesting illegal conch, as a quick, light surveillance product, with little perceived risk of being caught. This has caused a significant effect on the conch population, and in a
study conducted by Amanda Weiler and Andy Kough, the results replicate this; “But between the stretch of their tape measure, Kough found just a few adults and counted only a sparse population of juveniles—the age needed to ensure conch communities are sustained.” (Gibbens 2019). Because of the pressure to fish more product, the conch population is declining because the conch are not mature enough to replace themselves as they are fished. In order to make the fishery more sustainable, education efforts need to be instituted. When talking to the conch fisherman Deryl, he did not believe that the industry would collapse in ten years. This is the case with many other fishers out there. (Deryl 2022). Education of the reproductive biology of a conch, and why the regulations are put into place will put pressure onto conch fishers to follow the regulations more closely. In addition, establishing an off-season for conch fishing would allow conch time to reproduce and increase the population. Also, having specific physical boundaries for conch fishing. (Department of Fisheries). Putting pressure on restaurants to follow enacting laws by enforcing consequences for the purchasing illegally harvested conch and enforcing laws on other levels of the supply chain will be beneficial to the survival of the conch population, as well.

Although it is hard to enforce regulations, there are multiple ways in order for the conch fishery to become more sustainable. As mentioned above, communication is a way to bring light to the regulations already set and understanding to why they are there. Another way is to keep restaurants and large businesses accountable for conch. As most conch fishers are small scale individuals, it can be difficult to enforce regulations at this step in the process. Although, the fishers get profit from the buyers, so these larger buyers are a beneficial way to enforce the law. By enforcing these laws onto the larger businesses, it puts pressure and incentive onto the fishers to only fish adult conch. Although, it is hard to enforce these laws because there are so many businesses that sell conch, as it is a cultural icon and a high demand food. (In addition, there might be some resistance from the businesses because the conch fishers are being closely monitored or subject to punishment. The conch fishers may resist because of the low numbers of mature adults, causing them to gain less profit, their means of livelihood. In addition, having an off season would lower the amount of job opportunities during that season, endangering the income to fishermen. Additionally, having specific areas dedicated to conch fishing would solve the problem in the short term. But, as the population and density of conch decline in that area, the conch would not be able to reproduce. A solution to this problem is to have specific areas dedicated to fishing each season. The areas would have an off season at different times, providing time for the reproduction of conch. The conch fishery is not yet sustainable, but as the population is declining, there has been more efforts to protect the industry before its collapse.