Abstract

Understanding the behaviour of queen conch aggregations in Barbados is vital to developing plans for their protection to ensure the sustainability of the small scale fishery. This pilot study tests the efficacy of a combination of acoustic and conventional tags to evaluate the home range size, monthly movement patterns, site fidelity and density of individuals in an aggregation located in a high relief coral community. Three adult conch in the aggregation were tagged using acoustic LOTEK CAFT11-4 tags and ten others were marked with conventional tags to investigate the feasibility of simultaneously tracking many individuals within one aggregation. Individual conch were followed daily for the first 10 days and biweekly thereafter using a combination of surface tracking with telemetry and SCUBA observation. Positions of acoustically tagged conch were obtained using a handheld GPS and verified by divers using a survey tape and compass to record their positions relative to known markers at the site. All position and biological data were recorded and analysed in a geographic information system (GIS). Both observational tracking by SCUBA and acoustic tracking in such a high relief coral environment is difficult, but the acoustic tags have proven highly beneficial in re-finding individual conch which have demonstrated large movements away from the aggregation centre.

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