While walking along the beach you may be lucky enough to find a queen conch shell. What is interesting to know is that while you can keep a shell of the dead queen conch, it is illegal to take a living queen conch. This is due to them being on the endangered species list and being monitored by the NOAA.
In 2009, it was determined that the Queen Conch was overfished and a rebuilding plan was made that limited harvests from US fisherman. In 2017 it was determined that they are no longer being overfished and the rebuilding plan will have a better chance at working.
Due to its long lifespan, the more time the harvesting of them is limited, the greater the population will grow. The queen conch can live up to 40 years and are able to reproduce around 3 or 4 when they develop their flared lip. They lay hundreds of thousand of eggs in patches of bare sand and larvae are hatched 72 hours later.
While heading out to restaurants, queen conch can be found on the menu due the amount of queen conch that gets imported from other countries. If you want to find a local place in the keys that serves queen conch stop by the Key Largo Conch House Restaurant and Coffee Bar. You can also order some at Key Largo Fisheries.
It may give you some piece of mind knowing that when they get harvested, there is little impact to the ecosystem and no bycatch occurs. This is due to the fact they need to be harvested by hand. This should only be done when you have the proper permission to harvest them. There have been countless instances where people have gotten caught harvesting the queen conch and have faced major fines and some even spent a few days in jail. While people enjoy the meat of the conch and use the shell to make jewelry, people should be focused on how to protect the species from becoming extinct.
All in all, if you find a queen conch that is still alive, let it be. This will allow it to continue to reproduce and play its role in the ecosystem, and you will avoid getting any fines or jail time for illegally harvesting them. Somehow someway, you will get caught.
Hello, I hope you are enjoying the trip down to Florida. I am totally enjoying this trip it has been interesting. Your post about the Queen Conch reminded me that on one of the dives Dr. Z picked up this huge hermit crab. The shell was huge and we got to see it walk away under the water. I do not think that I would try the conch but it is cool to know that when harvested it leaves little impact on the environment.
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