Abstract

The queen conch, Strombus gigas, is a large Caribbean gastropod mollusc which has been exploited for food and many other purposes since pre-Columbian times. It has also been used during slavery for remote communication. It is still being used as traditional food, and as a tourist attraction delicatessen. Its shell is used as music instrument, tourist curios and much more. Mainly because of over-fishing, but probably also because of destruction and pollution of its natural habitat, it is today an endangered marine resource. It is included in annex II of CITES (Convention for International Trade of Endangered Species). However CITES is in charge only of international trade and is not concerned with local trade and fisheries. Each country is responsible for its protection and enforcement of regulation. However in most countries, lack of respect of the main regulations is the rule.\Research workers at academic level, in Guadeloupe (French Caribbean) and in Yucatan (Mexico), cooperating with the education group of the private marine park of Xel-Há in Quintana Roo (Mexico), with the support of Puerto Rico’s Caribbean Fisheries Management Council (CFMC), have joined their efforts to produce a whole set of documents at school and general public level. These documents, published in English, French and Spanish, comprise a booklet, a slide presentation and a large set of games, all accessible on four internet sites and in CD edition, distributed for free at the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) meetings and through the Strombus net site. They may be reproduced, used to print paper booklets and cardboard games for school and public information. They are designed to be adapted in each country to popularize the idea that Strombus gigas is a common natural resource and a cultural and economic heritage for all the Caribbean people. Children have to be involved in protecting it.

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