QUEEN CONCH FISHERIES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN STEPHANIE THEILE TRAFFIC EUROPE DECEMBER 2001 TECHNICAL REPORT TO THE CITES SECRETARIAT IN COMPLETION OF CONTRACT A-2000/01 Technical report to the CITES Secretariat in completion of contract A-2000/01. Published by TRAFFIC Europe December 2001 The opinions on views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the CITES Secretariat, the TRAFFIC Network, WWF or IUCN. The designation of geographical entities in this publication, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the CITES Secretariat, TRAFFIC or its supporting organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The TRAFFIC Symbol copyright and Registered Trademark ownership is held by WWF. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN. Front cover photographs: Piles of empty Strombus gigas shells at the Southwest Cay of Pedro Bank, Jamaica. (A. Tewfik) Larger steal hull used to harvest Strombus gigas in Jamaica. Packaging of Strombus gigas meat in a processing plant in Jamaica. Queen conch shells offered for sale in the Dominican Republic. Suggested citation: Theile, S. (2001): Queen Conch fisheries and their management in the Caribbean. TRAFFIC Europe. QUEEN CONCH FISHERIES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN THE CARIBBE AN TABLE OF CONTENT Introduction 1 Methodology 2 International Regulations and Conventions 4 CITES - Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 4 History of Strombus gigas under CITES 5 Significant T rade Review Process 5 CITES Export Quotas 5 CITES in the European Union 6 Cartagena Convention 9 Spaw Protocol – Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife 9 Food Sanitary Provisions in the European Union 9 Harmonised Fisheries Regulations of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States 10 Partners in the promotion of regional Queen Conch management 10 Queen Conch biology 12 Distribution 12 Habitat 14 Morphology and general biology 14 Early development 14 Biology of juveniles 14 Movement and migration 15 Growth and maturation 15 Reproduction 16 Other Strombid conchs in the region 16 Resource status 17 Overview of the Q ueen Conch fishery 22 Fishing fleet 22 Fishing gear 23 Fishing practice 23 Processing of the meat 24 Harvest and Trade in Q ueen Conch 29 Reported landings of Queen Conch 29 Domestic trade in Queen Conch meat and shells 31 International trade in Queen Conch products 32 Illegal harvest of and trade in Strombus gigas 45 Management of Q ueen Conch in the Caribbean 48 Management measu res in place in Queen Conch range States 48 Minimum size restrictions 48 Gear restrictions 49 Closed areas and seasons 50 Limited entry 50 Catch and export quotas 51 A case study: The Jamaica Quota system 55 The need for regional management 59 Conclusions 61 Recommendations 63 References 71 Annex 77 TRAFFIC EUROPE, DECEMBER 2001 QUEEN CONCH FISHERIES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN THE CARIBBE AN TRAFFIC EUROPE, DECEMBER 2001 QUEEN CONCH FISHERIES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN THE CARIBBE AN ACKNOWL EDGEMENTS This project was funded by the European Commission, CITES Secretariat and TRAFFIC Europe. During the course of the project, many individuals contributed their time, expertise, original research and insight into the subject and I would like to thank all of them. Special thanks go to the Fisheries Authorities, CITES Management Authorities and other experts in the region that responded to the questionnaires and/or provided valuable information through interviews, email correspondence and unpublished reports. Special thanks also go to Alexander Tewfik, for responding to numerous questions and sharing his knowledge and expertise with me; to the staff of the Fisheries Division of Jamaica, and in particular to André Kong and Stephen Smikle, for their hospitality and tremendous support during my stay in Jamaica; to Wesley Clerveaux (Department of Environmental and Coastal Resources of the Turks and Caicos Islands), Alex Tewfik, Stephen Smikle and Williana Joseph (Department of Fisheries of Saint Lucia) for providing some of the photographs included in this report; to Frank Cox and Donna Roberts (DYC Fishing Ltd., Jamaica) and Bunny Francis and Corrienne Sudine- Brown (B&D Trawling Ltd., Jamaica) for showing me around in their processing plants and taking the time to discuss conch fishery and processing, and to Miquel Rolon of the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council. The project also relied on the assistance and support of several TRAFFIC colleagues, in particular Bernardo Ortiz (T RAFFIC South America), Simon Habel (T RAFFIC North America), Adrian Reuter (T RAFFIC North America – Mexico) and Elisabeth Fleming, and special thank to them for their help. T hanks are also due to Angela Barden and Crawford Allan (TAFFIC International) for reviewing the report, and lastly to all my colleagues at TRAFFIC Europe for their help and support during the project. TRAFFIC EUROPE, DECEMBER 2001 QUEEN CONCH FISHERIES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN THE CARIBBE AN INTRODUC TION T he Queen Conch Strombus gigas, an edible marine gastropod, is one of the most important fishery resources in the Caribbean. The fishery has a long tradition in the region and the species has been valued, especially for its meat, for several centuries dating back to pre-columbian times (Brownell and Stevely, 1981). The shells of this species are also used as curios and in jewellery, but are generally of secondary economic importance (Mulliken, 1996; Chakalall and Cochrane, 1996). Records of commercial harvest and inter-island trade are already known from the Mid-18th century, when dried conch meat was shipped from the Turks and Caicos Islands to the neighbouring island of Hispaniola (Ninnes, 1984). With advances in freezer technology and a shift to trade in frozen meat, the fishery expanded in the 2000-century but remained largely of local importance supplying the Caribbean region with an important source of protein until the Mid-2000 century. However, since the 1970s the commercial harvest has seen a drastic increase largely driven by the increased demand overseas as well as by the growing resident population and the fast developing tourism industry. Once one of the most important source of protein to the Caribbean people Queen Conch is now largely harvested to supply the demand for its meat in foreign markets as well as in areas where local populations are no longer able to meet the demand. Today, over-harvest to meet these demands is being considered as the major cause of declines that are reported from numerous range States throughout the region. By the end of the mid-nineties, harvest levels have been estimated to be around 6,000t of conch meat per year, not accounting for the conch meat that is harvested for local subsistence consumption and the unknown amount of conch that is taken by illegal fishing (Chakalall and Cochrane, 1996). The wholesale value of these landings is estimated to be around 60 million USD per year, but may be multiplied several fold taking into account jobs created in the processing and marketing of Strombus gigas products, particularly in the ornamental, tourist and restaurant industry (Chakalall and Cochrane, 1996; Appeldoorn 1994b). The increasing exploitation of the species in the 1980s and early 1990s gave rise to concerns over the future of the Queen Conch fishery in the region and led to the inclusion of the species in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1992. Since then, all international trade in specimens of the species requires the prior issuance of a CITES export permit by the national CITES Management Authority, and records of trade shall be reported annually to the CITES Secretariat. In addition, CITES Parties are required to make non-detrimental findings to ensure that the export of specimens of species listed under CITES does not endanger the wild populations. Following the listing of the species in CITES Appendix II, concerns have been raised about the high levels of (illegal and legal) trade in this species and the insufficient implementation and enforcement of CITES provisions by Queen Conch range States (Mulliken, 1996; Allan, 1999). This was impeded by the fact that several range States had not acceded to the Convention until the late 1990s. Since then, several efforts have been undertaken by range States as well as regional fisheries bodies to improve the knowledge and understanding of the various aspects pertaining to the Queen Conch biology and fishery to improve its management and to enhance trade controls at the national and regional level. Several range States have for example introduced legislation pertaining to the harvest and trade in Queen Conch products and introduced Management Plans for the species. Efforts have also been undertaken at the regional and international level in attaining a common management strategy for the species and its fishery. T hese efforts resulted, for ex ample, in the establishment of the “ International Queen Conch Initiative” and the adoption of the “Declaration of San Juan” both in 1996. CITES plays an important role in the development of a regional management strategy for the species. Firstly, becaus e unsustainable and/or illegal international trade in Strombus gigas products is considered the primary cause for the decline of the species. Secondly, most Queen Conch range States are Parties to the Convention and CIT ES provides for several measures that are directly linked to the effective use of and trad e in Queen Conch products, e.g. by requiring exporting nations to ensure that the trade in a CITES listed species is sustainable and not threatening the species. The need to improve CITES implementation in the region has been recognised by many Parties as well as the CITES Secretariat and the development of a regional management strategy for Strombus gigas was seen as one of the priorities in this context (CITES Inf.