The Bahamas National Trust (BNT) sponsored three relay teams in the Sunshine Insurance Marathon Bahamas Race this past weekend. The teams are Lobatus, Strombus and Gigas, all scientific names for the queen conch, and their participation in the marathon was to help raise awareness of the need to support a sustainable conch fishery for The Bahamas and support Conchservation.
BNT participants were as follows:
- Team Strombus: Craig Dahlgren, Steve Wright, Anwar Rolle and Cameron Saunders.
- Team Lobatus: Antone Barrow, Scott Johnson, Lindy Knowles, and Kristoff Francois.
- Team Gigas: Daronique Young, Raquel Rolle, Lakeshia Anderson and Astra Armbrister-Rolle.
Conchservation is a national campaign whose ultimate goal is a sustainable queen conch industry in The Bahamas. Conch fisheries in Florida and the Caribbean have collapsed mainly due to overfishing. The Bahamas is one of the few places that still has a viable conch fishery in the region. One of the biggest threats to conch in The Bahamas is the harvesting of juvenile conch, sometimes called rollers. Each juvenile conch taken is potentially thousands of new conchs that will never be born.
According to Lakeshia Anderson, BNT Parks Planner, conch is a a cultural icon and an important fishery resource generating about 5 million dollars annually. “Bahamians and visitors love conch. It is important that we make sure that conch will always be in our future”.
“This is the fourth year that BNT Conchservation teams have participated in the Bahamas Marathon. We feel that this is a great way to raise awareness of the issues facing the Bahamian conch fishery while having fun and promoting the preservation of our conch industry”,said Agnessa Lundy, BNT Marine Science Coordinator.
Learn more about the Conchservation campaign by visiting www.bnt.bs, the Conchservation Facebook page and viewing the Conchservation PSA on YouTube at https://youtu.be/RafO-HNmNQc.