Strombus gigas, commonly known as the queen conch, is a species of large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk. This species is one of the largest mollusks native to the tropical northwestern Atlantic, from Bermuda to Brazil, reaching up to 35.2 centimeters
(13.9 in) in shell length.
The queen conch is herbivorous and lives in seagrass beds, although its exact habitat varies by development stage. The adult animal has a very large, solid and heavy shell, with knob-like spines on the shoulder, a flared thick, outer lip and a characteristic pink-colored aperture.
Conch reproduction stops when populations fall below a critical density because they must gather in large spawning aggregations to breed. A few days after the eggs are laid, they hatch into larvae, which can float more than 100 miles from
their point of origin. After about a month the larvae settle on the sea floor and metamorphose into juveniles – miniature versions of the adult conchs we are all familiar with.
Juvenile conch bury themselves in the sand to hide from
predators, spending more time on the surface as they grow. They take four years to mature and can live as long as 20.
But the poor conch are ill-prepared to deal with human fishing pressure. Pollution, over-fishing and other environmental factors have dramatically reduced wild conch populations, many exploited conch stocks have already collapsed and others are approaching that same threshold. Eating only wild caught conch is simply no longer sustainable.
Florida’s conch fishery collapsed decades ago, and conch harvesting was banned throughout the continental United States in 1986. The United States now imports 90% of the seafood consumed in America and 50% of those imports are from aquaculture farms. Worldwide aquaculture harvests for 2013 exceeded 58 million metric tons with a total value well in excess of 100 billion dollars.
Most of the 1,000-plus metric tons of conch eaten by Americans every year is imported from countries like the Turks & Caicos, Belize, or the Bahamas. Although threatened by overfishing, these conch populations are in better shape because of the protection afforded by marine reserves and restrictions on the use of scuba gear by fishermen.
In the Bahamas, the 176-square-mile Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park was made a no-take fishery zone in 1986 by the Bahamas National Trust. Although some poaching does occur, scientists agree that the park is a major source for the replenishment of conch, lobster and grouper stocks outside its borders.
The conch shells I use in my work are both wild shells from Bahamas and cultured shells from aquaculture farms on Turks & Caicos. They are, however, always a by product of food industry. The necklace featured in this article consists of a conch triangle surrounded by pteria penguin shell and suspended on copper mesh.
CONCH AQUAC
ULTURE
IN TURKS
& CAICOS
January 2017 - Art & Culture
98 - SEVENSEAS