Abstract

Preliminary results of a NOAA funded project, intended to gather information to improve the management of queen conch, Strombus gigas, in the Dominican Republic, are presented. The project is a joint effort of the government of Dominican Republic and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM). Its main goal is the sustainable utilization of Queen Conch resources through greater networking, research, capacity building and improved management to ensure sustainability of Dominican fisheries. The first phase of the project is aimed to determine distribution and population densities of queen conch in Parque Nacional Jaragua and Parque Nacional del Este and to increase effectiveness of underwater density studies of queen conch through utilization of available images and geographic information systems. In the field, queen conch abundance and density estimates were conducted by two team of divers who swam over 22 and 37 transects of 250m length x 5m wide respectively and counted the number of queen conch specimens found. Syphonal length and lip thickness of the live conch encountered were then estimated to the closest centimeter. Dominant habitat type was also recorded. Habitat and conch distribution maps were generated through synergy with the NOAA funded project “Increasing Training and Techniques exchange for sitting MPA’s in Remote Coral Reef Environments in the Caribbean”. Preliminary data on queen conch density and the resulting habitat maps are presented

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