Abstract

The contribution of conch from the state of Campeche to National production increased from 6% in 1979 to over 55% in 1994. Catches consist of eight species: Turbinella angulata (30.5 %), Busycon carica (24.9%), Melongena melongena (17.6%), M. corona (11.7%), Strombus costatus (5.8%), S. pugilis (4.5%), Fasciolaria tulipa (2.5%) y Pleurop/oca gigantea (2.5%). The peak of production concentrates on fall and winter with 75% of the state production.\Mean sizes of the different captured species range from 46 to 316 mm shell length, which affects mainly juveniles of the larger species. The highest presence of egg cases in the field was from March to August. Minimum legal sizes and fishing restriction from February to June are recommended to protect reproductive aggregations. For Pleurop/oca gigantea and Strombus costa tus a permanent fishing restriction is proposed to allow the recovery of their over exploited populations.

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