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Counting Lambi In The Caribbean

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent CMC – Resource managers and fishers from nine English and Spanish speaking Caribbean countries are ending a workshop here Saturday that focused on underwater visual census techniques for the queen conch or lambi (Strombus gigas).

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) said the queen conch is an iconic part of Caribbean culture as well as a valuable fisheries resource; yet, many countries do not have the knowledge to conduct surveys to ensure the sustainability of their populations.

“This is especially true in those countries where the fishery is still small-scale, with the possible exceptions of Jamaica, Belize and to certain extent The Bahamas and Dominican Republic, where the conch fishery is a well established commercial business.”

The three-week Training of Trainers workshop addressed the critical lack of training capacity for fisheries managers in the Caribbean and according to CRFM Deputy Executive Director, Susan Singh-Renton, the training opportunity has addressed a key step in CRFM’s ongoing efforts to improve management of the region’s queen conch fisheries through development of a much needed, stronger, scientific approach.

“The CRFM is paying special attention to the queen conch fishery resource because of its contribution to foreign exchange earnings for the countries concerned, and related to this, international interest in Caribbean queen conch management and conservation practices.”

The workshop attracted delegates from Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In the first phase of the workshop, experts conducted classroom training activities on the biology and management of conch, as well as survey techniques related to data collection, data analyses while the second phase of field activities in the Grenadines.

“The field activities consist of estimating conch abundance using underwater visual census techniques using scuba divers, and by using towed underwater cameras,” CRFM said, adding that the entire process is focused on building the capacity for each nation to develop their own sampling programs and subsequently set quota recommendations for conch harvests.

This project was made possible with the support of the European Development Fund on behalf of the  African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group that created the ACP Fish II programme, which aims to improve sustainable fisheries management under their jurisdiction.

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