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STATUS OF QUEEN CONCH FISHERY IN ST LUCIA

STATUS OF QUEEN CONCH FISHERY IN ST LUCIA. Prepared by: Patricia Hubert- Medar and Sarita Williams Peter Presenter: Patricia Hubert- Medar. Panama City October 23-25. Agenda. Description of the national Queen Conch fishing industry Policy and Legislation Development Activities

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STATUS OF QUEEN CONCH FISHERY IN ST LUCIA

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  1. STATUS OF QUEEN CONCH FISHERY IN ST LUCIA Prepared by: Patricia Hubert-Medar and Sarita Williams Peter Presenter: Patricia Hubert-Medar Panama City October 23-25

  2. Agenda • Description of the national Queen Conch fishing industry • Policy and Legislation • Development Activities • Fisheries management and conservation activities • Consumption and Trade • Annual catch statistics • research • stock assessment • Final Considerations

  3. Description of the national Queen Conch fishing industry • single species nearshore fisheries • max. 5 miles; avg. 2.22 miles from shore • 11 – 43 m • SCUBA gear - three dives per trip - 100 – 500 conch landed /trip (2003) • fibreglass pirogues, 7.02 – 8.45 m, 115 – 250 hp • majority landed whole (live) and then sold immediately or retained for fish fry.

  4. Policy and Legislation • Fisheries Regulations since 1994: Current legislation provides protection for: • Immature conch • Flared lip • Meat weight (280g) • Revised Legislation (not in effect) • Includes Permit system

  5. Development Activities • Stock Assessment – CRFM Sci Meeting • Density survey – EU SFA 2003 • Socio-economic survey – EU SFA 2003 • Co-management with fishers • Training of conch divers in SCUBA • Hyperbaric chamber committee

  6. Fisheries management and conservation activities • Two management objectives have been defined for this resource: • rebuilding the near shore stocks and • ensuring sustainable use of this resource

  7. Consumption and Trade • major market for meat • local market serving both the tourism sector and nationals • Local markets include: Saint Lucia Fish Marketing Co-operation, hotels, restaurants, seafood festival vendors and the general public • Growing demand for conch at seafood festivals stimulate economic development in these communities. • Sale of conch shells, is another area for economic benefits.

  8. Annual catch statistics • Data collection include: gathering of data on catch, effort etc. • Conch landings are captured for Gros Islet in the north, where the majority of conch is landed; Laborie; Vieux Fort and Dennery • Over the past 12 years conch landings have been on a steady decline. CPUE also confirms.

  9. Stock Assessment • CRFM Sci meeting assessment • Rec. initial 30 tonnes per year harvest quota • Current density indicates average of 242.87 individuals per hectare • 2008 socio-economic study – majority of fishers reported no change. • Need for conch fishers to be engaged to foster stewardship .

  10. Final Consideration • The following summarises the information on issues affecting the conch fishery: • Sustained Data Collection collaboratively with fishers. • Regional integration of information on stocks needs to inform management decisions. • Depths at which the conch are now found is becoming an even greater limiting factor on the number of dives that are being conducted. • Fisheries management recommendations should be done collaboratively with fishers to reduce enforcement pressures.

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