Status of queen conch populations around the northern US Virgin Islands with managment recommendations for Virgin Islands National Park
Friedlander AM. 1997. Status of queen conch populations around the northern US Virgin Islands with managment recommendations for Virgin Islands National Park. Honolulu, Hawaii
Repeated sampling of queen conch transects established during previous surveys were conducted in 1996 in order to determine the effects of management regulations and develop future management strategies, A significant decline in adult conch abundance was detected from 1981 to 1996 despite a moratorium and current bag limits, seasonal closure, and minimum size limits. There was a trend of increased adult conch abundance between the 1990 and 1996 surveys but a large portion of this increase (60% of all conch observed) was the result of high densities off Water Island, St. Thomas and Lameshur Bay, St. John. The high number of conch at these two sites skews these data and gives the impression that there has been an overall increase in abundance between 1990 and 1996. Low densities of conch at all other locations reflects the lack of recovery over much of the shelf area and the patchy distribution of the species. This patchy distribution pattern makes queen conch highly susceptible to intensive fishing pressure.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Friedlander, Alan
- Date of Issue
- 1997-04-25
- Units
- VIIS
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Monitoring, Population, queen conch (Strombus gigas), St. John, US Virgin Islands