The Bahamas National Trust's (BNT) "Conchservation" campaign fielded three relay teams in the recently held Marathon Bahamas event (January 16-17) in an effort to build public support for a sustainable conch fishery.
Marathon Bahamas, organized on New Providence by Sunshine Insurance for the past seven years, was recently named one of the best races in the world by top British magazine, Runner's World. Scores of runners from around the world competed in Nassau over two days in a 26-mile marathon, a 13-mile half-marathon, a 3-mile run/walk, and a 26-mile relay race. This is the fourth year that Conchservation Teams have participated in Marathon Bahamas. The teams fielded were named Lobatus, Strombus and Gigas - all scientific terms for the queen conch.
According to BNT Marine Science Coordinator Agnessa Lundy: "This was a great way to raise awareness of the issues facing the Bahamian conch fishery while having fun."
Conchservation is a national campaign geared towards sustaining the country's declining conch populations. It connects the BNT with scientists, corporations and government agencies to share information and advance public education. Conch fisheries in Florida and the Caribbean have collapsed, mainly due to overfishing. The Bahamas is one of the few places in the region that still has a viable conch fishery.
One of the biggest threats to conch in The Bahamas is the harvesting of juvenile conch - sometimes called rollers. Each juvenile conch taken represents thousands of new conchs that will never be born. If you can break the lip of a conch shell, that's an immature conch.
Recent surveys of Bahamian fishing grounds indicate that conch populations are seriously threatened by overfishing. Studies comparing populations today and 20 years ago in the same location shows much as a 90 per cent decline. Experience in Florida and other Caribbean nations show that recovery of conch populations is very slow once populations fall below thresholds for reproduction.
Releases of hatchery-reared conch have not been successful in rebuilding stock, and natural populations need to be conserved, scientists say.
Conch is a cultural icon in the Bahamas and an important fishery resource, generating about $5 million annually. According to Lakeshia Anderson, BNT Parks Planner, "Bahamians and visitors love conch, so it's important to make sure that conch will always be in our future."
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