Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

QUEEN CONCH MOBILE MARICULTURE LABS FOR FLORIDA AND THE CARIBBEAN

 

Megan Davis* , Amanda Matthews,  Becky  Holt,  Robinson Bazurto , Benjamin Metzger, Dav id Bourdette, Jeffre y Smith,  Catherine Booker,  Rupert Hayward, Melissa Halpern, Antony Johns, Raimundo Espinoza

 

Florida Atlantic University

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

5600 US 1 North

Fort Pierce, Florida, USA

Mdavi105@fau.edu

 



The largest molluscan fishery in the Caribbean is queen conch Aliger gigas. High demand for conch meat, coupled with overharvesting and degradation of coastal seagrass habitats,  has led to substantial declines in certain populations .  For example,  queen conch populations  remain very low in Florida despite total closure since 1986.  In T he Bahamas, where conch  serves as  a crucial protein source for local consumption and generates significant revenue, the fishery is experiencing a decline in many areas and product  export is now banned . Local regulations, along with  queen conch being a CITES Appendix II species, provide  a framework for sustainable fishery management . However, NOAA  Fisheries has recently  proposed  a rule to list the queen conch as  a threatened  species  under  the  Endangered Species Act to prevent th is  important seagrass ecosystem and fishery species from reaching endangered status.

 FAU Harbor Branch Queen Conch Lab’s vision is to establish a queen conch farm in every Caribbean country as one of many solutions to assist with restoration. This vision started in 2019 with a partnership SK NOAA- funded queen conch hatchery at a Puerto Rico Fishing Association. Soon after, a queen conch hatchery  was launched  at  the Curaçao Sea Aquarium. Since this time, the concept of  Mobile Queen Conch Labs  was conceived to reach more locations .  The first  Mobile  Lab concept was developed and built for Great Exuma, Bahamas, in a partnership between  Dr.  Megan Davis of FAU and Catherine Booker of Bahamas National Trust, with funding from the Richard Schneider Trust.  With support from Builders Initiative, two M obile Labs will be established at the Queen Conch Mariculture Center in Grand Bahama,  in  close partnership with Blue Action Lab . As part of this funding, a M obile L ab will  also be stationed at the Harbor Branch Aquaculture Park for  international training purposes .  Additional Mobile Labs are underway for Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Great Exuma . The Mobile Queen Conch Lab  Hatchery (20’ x 8’) is fully equipped to grow queen conch from egg mass stage to early juvenile stage, with the capacity to grow up to 2,000 conch per year.  The lab is designed to operate on solar power with backup batteries and  an  inverter. The saltwater growing systems can be water flow-through or recirculation. Key components include  an egg mass incubation tank, larval rearing tanks with aeration, metamorphosis tanks, and a microalgae culture area. The Mobile Labs are installed by  ocean  engineers and scientists at FAU and then shipped to the various Caribbean locations.