Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Why A Conch Farm Is Leading Conservation Efforts

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By Kevin Myers


Aquaculture or sea culture has been in development throughout the Bahamas, part of the a region where island archipelagos abound. The Caribbean is now alive with projects to save endemic marine species and some are very successful. This kind of success has provided impetus for these projects to do more, often being able to protect marine life while being successful commercially.

Some of these are conches, one of these being the Caribbean Queen, which has been a good part of human diets in the region for a very long time. Conch farm in Turks and Caicos has made many scientific and technological advances to rehabilitate the said species while practicing excellent seafarming. It is a model many are following and it is accessible online.

Currently, the best companies operating are also cooperating with the TCI government to create the best possible outcomes for what is still a commercially endangered species. Centuries of hunting and harvesting have depleted Caribbean conch species in the wild. Thanks in large part to the conch farm projects, the Caribbean Queen is making a cautious comeback.

Specialists here have created a deep sea farming method that can be done with offshore cages. This method is revolutionary and is now being pilot tested for several endemic fish species that are becoming more endangered. The government of the islands and its partners has applied what they learned from conch farms for grouper, pompano, snapper and cobia.

The pioneer places are stimulating the TCI economy with a great source of animal protein that remains affordable and the creation of more jobs for locals. Also, the wild conches are getting some kind of relief from the commercial operations. These are systems that run on excellent technical capabilities with the hatcheries and submerged deep sea cages.

In Turks and Caicos, the focus has been on the strombus gigas, but is it now being diversified. The mariculture revolution continues with new style large fish cages for an environmentally aware industry. When done, it is projected to be one of the strongest commercial sea farming ventures in this region as well as around the world.

Places for the farms have been studied for having deeper waters with reliable currents. They will work best for the larger scale farms being built undersea. Other kinds of conches, though, are still in danger from overfishing. Without the advocacy of the farms in TCI, they would be in real danger of becoming extinct.

The farming operations are becoming highly attractive places for interested conservationists and concerned people to visit. The companies do not like for their operations to become tourism intensive even as the islands has a good industry in this regard. A limited number of tours and visits are now accepted, which is something of heaven for a certain type of eco activist.

Ultimately, the primary accomplishment of this kind of farming will probably be replicated in other locations. The region is warm water, and the methods used here are specific to this type of sea. You can go online and visit sites for these for more useful information.




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