![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/conchservation.jpg\" "\\"conchservation\\"")
With studies showing the country\u2019s conch stocks are on the decline, the Bahamas National Trust hosted a \u201cconchservation\u201d event as part of its campaign to raise awareness of the need to better manage the conch-fishing industry.<\/p>\nWith studies showing the country\u2019s conch stocks are on the decline, the Bahamas National Trust hosted a \u201cconchservation\u201d event as part of its campaign to raise awareness of the need to better manage the conch-fishing industry.<\/p>\n
Noting that millions of the aquatic sea-slugs are caught yearly for consumption, BNT President Neil McKinney explained the conch population is now \u201cskewed towards the juveniles\u201d and catching that group would mean taking them before they get a chance to reach reproductive age.<\/p>\n
Stressing the BNT is not advocating for a ban on conch or a closed season, Mr McKinney said he just wants to get the word out to Bahamians that the country is in need of a \u201cstrategy\u201d on how to maintain the conch population.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is to raise awareness about the stocks and the populations of the conch that we have here in the Bahamas,\u201d he said, speaking at the event, hosted by Frankie Gone Bananas at Arawak Cay.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the studies we\u2019ve had done and the surveys we\u2019ve had done indicate that conch are on a decline and the simple truth is, if we keep doing what we are doing \u2013 they will continue to decline.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, what we want to do is to start the dialogue and raise the awareness about how we\u2019re going to change the way we manage our conch stocks, because that\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to be able to maintain stocks or increase stocks \u2013 if we change what we\u2019re doing and we change the practice that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the BNT wants to do, Mr McKinney said, is talk to fishermen, restaurants, and the public in general, to \u201cgive them the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain to them the biology of the conch, how they breed, how they reproduce, how long it takes for them to become mature. And then, let\u2019s sit down and have a strategy on how we\u2019re going save them in the sense that we\u2019re going to maintain the population that we have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully to grow it back because there\u2019s a very high percentage right now, biologically speaking, the population is skewed towards the juveniles which means that we\u2019re taking them before they get a chance to reach reproductive stages.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked how many pounds of conch are actually fished out of the sea per year for consumption, the BNT president said, \u201cmillions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll give you a couple of statistics that I know,\u201d Mr McKinney said. \u201cThe Department of Marine Resource says that annually we export 500 to 600 pounds of conch. If you figure a conch weighs a half a pound \u2013 that\u2019s over a million conch that we\u2019re exporting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m told that that amount that we export is around 20 per cent of the annual take, so if you run the math on that, it\u2019s significant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett was also present at the event where he told The Tribune the country has to work towards \u201cnourishing those areas\u201d where conch stocks are depleted.<\/p>\n
\u201cConch is a part of our almost daily experience,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a part of our diet and it provides economic opportunities for those who fish for the resources and bring it in for us to enjoy. To ensure that that maintains itself and is sustained over a long period of time, we have to understand the science involved in ensuring that those resources are available to us for generations unborn.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to have to start having national conversation about food security. I think we have to understand that there is a reason why we talk about getting conch at a particular size \u2013 ensuring they are mature when you get them, because we want to make sure they are able to have conchs for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some areas where they tell me that science indicates that some of those resources are depleted. We have to work towards nourishing those areas and bringing them back. But certainly where there are areas where we have significant numbers we have to protect and manage those resources as best as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister added: \u201cIt\u2019s always best for a government to be guided by informed decision making and science to help us in that informed decision making.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana Smith
\nThe Tribune<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The BNT is not advocating for a ban on conch, or for a closed season, but is stressing that Bahamians need a \u201cstrategy\u201d on how to maintain the conch population for long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[491],"tags":[76,39,23],"class_list":["post-35163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-environment-2","tag-fishing","tag-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35163\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}