Conservation and Management of Queen Conch Fisheries
Summary
The queen conch (Lobatus gigas) sustains socio-economic and cultural livelihoods across the Caribbean and adjacent waters, yet decades of intensive harvesting have driven many populations below sustainable thresholds. Complex life-history traits—including slow growth, late sexual maturity, and larval dispersal dependent on ocean currents—render the species vulnerable to overexploitation and habitat degradation. Traditional management tools such as minimum size limits, seasonal closures and catch quotas have been implemented regionally, while marine protected areas (MPAs) have become central to replenishment strategies by safeguarding spawning aggregations and promoting larval export. However, low adult densities exacerbate depensatory processes (Allee effects) that impair mate finding and reproductive success, undermining recovery even when fishing is curtailed. Environmental disturbances—storms, coastal development and ocean acidification—further compound risks by altering nursery habitats and shell calcification. Emerging approaches integrate spatially explicit stock assessments, simulation modelling of reproductive dynamics and adaptive management to refine size limits, protect critical breeding grounds and foster ecological spillover. A cohesive, multi-scale framework that balances ecological thresholds with community needs is essential to reverse declines and secure the queen conch’s long-term viability.
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Conservation and Management of Queen Conch Fisheries publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in conservation and management of queen conch fisheries across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Depensation (Allee effect): A process by which reduced population density leads to lower per capita reproduction and survival, hindering recovery.
Marine Protected Area (MPA): A designated marine region with legal restrictions on extraction intended to conserve biodiversity and replenish stocks.
Ecological spillover: The movement of adult or larval individuals from protected areas into adjacent fished zones, bolstering exploited populations.
Minimum legal size limit: A regulatory threshold for shell length or lip thickness below which harvesting is prohibited to protect juveniles and sub-adults.
References
- Ecological spillover from a marine protected area replenishes an over‐exploited population across an island chain. Conservation Science and Practice (2019).
- Impact of minimum catch size on the population viability of Strombus gigas (Mesogastropoda: Strombidae) in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Revista de Biología Tropical (2014).
- Efecto de la temperatura y la acidificación en larvas de Strombus gigas (Mesogastropoda: Strombidae). Revista de Biología Tropical (2017).
- Is the Queen conch Strombus gigas (Mesogastropoda: Strombidae) a species with Allee effect?. Revista de Biología Tropical (2014).
- Aftereffects of Hurricanes Irma and Ian on queen conch Aliger gigas in the Florida Keys, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series (2024).
- Limiting factors for queen conch (Lobatus gigas) reproduction: A simulation-based evaluation. PLOS ONE (2022).
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