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Is it endangered in VI? I know there's a catch limit, but does that make it endangered? I see somebody will be offering classes on Conch Carving and I'm concerned that this might encourage illegal harvesting.
Posted : December 2, 2013 1:33 pm
No not endangered as of YET, currently a candidate under the ESA thou.
As of Nov. 5th there are new regulations on commercial harvesting as 200 per boat, which I think is WAY to much. You can't harvest commercially on STT of STJ, currently only on STX and I am betting that time is limited.
I know that I work in the water and I haven't even seen 200 individuals within the year I've been here. Hopefully these will become protected or at least the catch minimized to personal collection. Personal use as far as I can find is still 6 per day and 9 inches from tip to distal end with 3/8in lip.
It just sucks that they are such a perfect candidate for overfishing. They can't move fast, easy to catch and usually when you see a cluster of them they are spawning... thats also where fisherman look to grab a bunch, not helping the reduction of the species. Unfortunately there will ALWAYS be jerks that don't obey the laws and the poor animals as usual will pay the price. Just last week I almost got into a fist fight with some A-HOLE at the bar bragging about SPEARING lobster. He was going on and on and on about how big his SPEARED catches were. My boyfriend was trying to get me to leave but I couldn't resist and I lost it on him. Its amazes me that people just go out and kill whatever they want without reading one sentence of regulations. This guy had NO IDEA that it was illegal to spear them. SMH. My boss/friend also said he heard a guy bragging about spearing a nurse shark once!?!?! I would have punched that guy in the crotch. More often than not recently I am becoming more and more embarrassed to be species human.
Posted : December 2, 2013 2:12 pm
AaandA2VI - You go Girl. 😉
These morons have no idea and no respect. He probably speared a female with eggs on top of just the spearing which is why they do not allow lobster to be speared. That way if you catch one with eggs, you can release and no harm done. I have done this as do most responsible divers since one wishes there to be a continuance of an abundance of lobsters in the future
Ms411 - I saw that article as well and wondered the same. Conch are supposed to be brought to shore live in shells before harvesting but that is not always the case as the heaps of conch shells littering the ocean bed can attest. My thought was it put these creatures more at risk.
When I was a child and we spent our summers in STJ, there would be hundreds of conch laying in the grass beds, right in Cruz Bay in knee high water. That is no longer the case due to many circumstances. There are also seasons when allowed to harvest, not yr. round.
Posted : December 2, 2013 2:30 pm
