Data on conch industry analysed
It’s the second largest income earner in terms of captured fisheries for Belize, surpassed only by lobster. And in 2003, conch production continued on its usual trend with fishermen hauling in three hundred and fifty-one thousand pounds of the delicacy. To ensure the survivability of this valuable resource, this week the Fisheries Department is discussing the findings of a conch survey carried out last year. Senior Fisheries Officer George Myvett says it is important to know the current status of the industry in order to plan for the future.
George Myvett, Senior Fisheries Officer
“The workshop today marks the analysis phase of a part of a study we are doing. Over the last couple of months we completed the field aspect of a conch survey. Belize has certain international obligations as it relates to conch fishery management. We’re a part of the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species, CITES. And as a part of that function we need to demonstrate that we are managing conch from a rational and sustainable perspective.”
“Today essentially is the academic aspect of that process. We will be talking to some extent about catch per unit effort, we will be talking about stock biomass, and these are things that the fisheries managers feel comfortable with, it’s a necessary part of the process. I must mention that conch is an organism that is specific to the wider Caribbean. You will not find conch naturally for example in Asia, it’s a resource of the Caribbean.”
“This is a resource that has been under tremendous fishing pressures. We have approximately three thousand five hundred fishermen registered in Belize and ninety percent of these fishermen do harvest conch. So this is a resource that has been under heavy fishing pressure traditionally, and it is a resource that would need special management.”
Myvett says the Fisheries Department is working in conjunction with fishermen to ensure the sustainable management of the industry. He says changes in fisheries laws are an indication that collaboration is working. At the close of the workshop on Thursday, fishermen will be invited to join the scientists at the Fisheries Department for the public launch of the findings of the conch survey.
In related news: the Coastal Zone Management Authority is holding a meeting for fishing camp owners from the Belize City, Lighthouse, and Turneffe regions on Wednesday from ten a.m. to three p.m. at the C.Z.M.A.I. training room on Princess Margaret Drive. Topics to be covered include caye development issues such as tourism, dredging, land use, piers, and waste disposal. The second meeting for the cayes in the Dangriga area will be on Thursday at the Dangriga Town Hall.
