In the two-day workshop on Blue Biotrade Action Plan for Queen Conch Value chain, OECS Director-General, Dr Didacus Jules announced plans for the establishment of a Conch hatchery on Union Island, St Vincent.
The Blue BioTrade Project intends to seize the trade and business potential of Blue BioTrade products for promoting sustainable livelihoods and conservation of marine biodiversity in selected OECS countries.
Data from CITES show that 21.61 million pounds of conch were exported from the region between 1992 and 2001, according to Jules.
In order for the conch industry to be sustainable, all the necessary legal, scientific, financial, and administrative infrastructure must be in place, he said.
The queen conch production volumes for Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, when combined, represent over 15% of Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) queen conch production.
Conch industry stakeholders from SVG, St. Lucia, and Grenada attended the event which was held at Sunset Shores Beach Hotel on May 26th and 27th, 2022.
