The Queen Conch’s Gambit | WIRED

Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the size of the Taino. But the Taino story and artwork emphasizes the importance of conch: in their fishing and diving traditions; Within the infinite pile of conch they harvested, farmed, and made tools and ornaments; And their small spiritual objects are sculpted in three points – basically inspired by the dotted top of a conch shell.

Evidence of conch overvesting was found in their time, Keegan said. But the export pressures that triggered the collapse of the British Empire gave the queens their English names. A fashionable 18-year-old when she ascended the throne in 1837, Queen Victoria preferred coral-pink shells. (Living at the bottom of the ocean, the shells are not bright pink, but muted in the darkness of the algae.) He hired his own cameo cutter to maintain his brooches and souvenirs; They help inspire an insane need. Before the turn of the century, British scientists warned that the Molaskan kings were fishing for extra fish.

Sir Augustus J. Aderley, the Bahamas Fisheries Commissioner in Britain, wrote in 1883, “The profits from the conversion of cameo and other objects into industry are enormous.” Would be, and its protection desirable. “He wanted to advise the Queen a closed season to avoid fishing,” but I’m afraid it’s not realistic. “

Political pragmatism has engulfed science ever since. At the Shed Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, biologist Andrew Cuff has helped measure the “gradual decline” of queen conch in the export-heavy Bahamas, with research also identifying steps that could save them. These include an extensive network of no-tech reserves, harvest limits based on shell thickness, and, ultimately, restrictions on exports. Bahamian government officials have pledged support for each step. But it is difficult to control in a country where 10,000 artisan conch is imprisoned. Without it, Cuff and other scientists say, the Bahamas would follow the Florida keys and lose the fish altogether.

Cough said science could be able to lift healthy shells and return them to the sea. But there is no evidence that cultured teenagers can replicate the epic larva travel seen in the wild. With billions upon billions of larvae flowing for miles in a stream, the scale of natural reproduction is “far greater than what we can do in aquaculture,” he said. Similarly, if a conch population falls below the minimum threshold for breeding, a number directly related to fishing pressure cannot be saved.

Davis agrees that the hatchery alone cannot save the queens. But he believes that aquaculture can reduce some of the stress from wild conch-and that its role in shaping a conservation policy is significant. The Naguyabo Hatchery has an outdoor touch tank where school children and tourists can pick up a queen, perhaps with a hint of her long legs or tent-like eyes. A Bahamian team is now building a mobile hatchery in Exuma based on Naguabo’s design, which will be run by local fishermen and community members with similar models. “Control is really the other way around — and it’s up to the countries, including management and national parks and marine reserves,” Davis said. “But seeing fishermen bring back a significant batch of eggs and then see those healthy shells transform in 21 to 28 days seems like a huge achievement.”