Abstract

We will introduce Strombus Gigas Alliance (SGA) to the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute and its members. We will describe the current state of the conch harvest (Belize); habitat shrinkage, disproportionate waste, the lowering of catch quotas, and the effect on culture and livelihoods if authentic sustainable harvest is not implemented. CITES regulations inhibit governmental policies to address these issues sufficiently. Currently the waste of the harvest is 85-92%, saving only the cleaned white fillets for export. By implementing collection practices, barge and shore landing of whole animals, the waste is reduced to 8-15% and the majority of the mollusk is used (Bahamas). The dirty meat can be used as animal feed and fertilizer, the operculum for handicrafts, and shells for a myriad of artisanal uses and aggregate components. Part one of our plan will detail how to involve the fishers of Belize and the conch harvesting nations of the Caribbean to save the discards of the harvest (by-products) and provide a lifelong secondary income stream for fisher-folk and their families. Part two of our plan is to use five decades of discards from the shallows of the sea while cleaning up the conch habitat and creating employment. The difficulty this plan addresses is that CITES has governance of all derivatives and by-products of the Strombus gigas thus hindering international trade with other Caribbean nations and the global marketplace.

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