
There are thousands of creatures in the ocean, and while Floridians are very familiar with many of them, the queen conch doesn’t get a lot of attention. But its role in the order of things under the sea is a big one. Native to Florida’s eastern seaboard, from Fort Pierce to the Keys and throughout the Caribbean, the queen conch typically lives in shallow waters (100 feet deep or less), grazes on plants, and keeps seagrass beds healthy. This year, NOAA Fisheries officially listed it as a threatened species.

“The queen conch has such an important role in our ecosystem, keeping the seagrass clean so that other animals can thrive as well,” says Megan Davis, PhD, a research professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce. “I think we need to respect it and make sure that when it’s harvested, it’s harvested at the right size.”
As director of FAU Harbor Branch’s Queen Conch Lab, Davis is dedicated to researching and preserving the species. At the lab, she and her small team of scientists and researchers grow queen conch, observe developing eggs and larvae, and build aquaculture systems in tanks to learn more about these marine creatures.
In collaboration with Florida Atlantic’s Center for Online and Continuing Education, Davis developed eConch, a free online course that aims to educate fellow aquaculturists as well as the general public. “I love when people learn about the biology of the animal, because the more you know about a species in the ocean, the more you will understand its life cycle, which will allow you to understand why certain regulations are in place,” she says. “The queen conch is a really important food source and livelihood, but it won’t last forever. I want to teach people how to help participate in the sustainable future of the species for the sake of the species, ecosystem, and people.”

The conch is threatened because it is a nutritious delicacy for humans as well as for ocean predators like lobsters, crabs, octopus, rays, turtles, and nurse sharks, and it is prized for its beautiful shell. Overfishing also poses a threat, as do frequent storms, which cause flooding, runoff, and degradation of the shallow water conch reside in. Florida has not permitted fishing for queen conch since 1986.
Facebook Comments