Aquaculture 2022

February 28 - March 4, 2022

San Diego, California

eConch: eLearning FOR GROWING QUEEN CONCH Aliger gigas

 

Megan Davis

 Florida  Atlantic University

 Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

5600 US 1 North

Fort Pierce, Florida, USA

mdavi105@fau.edu

 



The Queen Conch Lab is a n aquaculture, conservation, research, and education program at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. The program works with partners on community-based  queen conch  projects across the Caribbean. Culturally important, queen conch are prized for their pink shells and nutritious meat. Communities depend on conch as a source of food and income. A s grazers, they  play a key ecological role in seagrass habitats. Intense fishing pressure and habitat loss have resulted in declining queen conch populations. In 2020, the Queen Conch Lab  established the ‘eConch : eLearning for Growing Queen Conch’ initiative as a  strategy  to address  requests  from  Caribbean  communities  for information  on how to grow conch for restoration, conservation, and sustainable seafood purposes. ‘eConch’ is an interactive online course being developed in partnership with FAU Center for Online and Continuing Education .  The syllabus  will  feature  eight modules that include  video content, live virtual presentations, activities,  and group discussions  designed for a broad audience. This concept emerged based on findings from  two focused planning session s with site partners throughout the Caribbean that have signed up to beta test the course in 2022 .  The success of this  initiative  will be the implementation of a well-tested eLearning course on the cultivation of queen conch that can be offered to additional  participants in the Caribbean.  Wide-ranging distribution  of this knowledge will benefit the species, the ecosystem, and the communities that depend on the fishery.