How Long Will Conch Fishing Last in the Bahamas?

Scientists, environmental activists¹, and government officials warn that the Bahamas' conch population is decreasing because of overfishing.

The conch is a kind of marine² creature with a shell. It is important to Bahamians' diet and economy.

Tereha Davis's family has fished for conch around the Bahamas for five generations. Davis, who is 49 years old, remembers when she could walk into the water and pick up the marine snails³ from the seabed.

But in recent years, Davis and conch fishers like her have had to go farther from shore to find conch. Sometimes it is as far as 48 kilometers.

"When I was a child, we never had to go that far to get conch," said Davis, speaking at a Freeport market where she sold her catch. "Without conch, what are we supposed to do?"

National dish

The conch is widely recognized as the national dish of the Bahamas. Queen conch is the most important food species⁴ and can live for 30 years.

Conch can be very costly⁵ in the U.S. and other places. But it is so common in the Bahamas that it can often be found in meals costing less than $10. That is less than the price of many meats on the island. One study from 2021 said nearly two-fifths of the population in rural parts of the Bahamas eats conch weekly.

The country of about 400,000 is home to 9,000 conch fishers - around two percent of the population. A study published in Fisheries Management and Ecology said this number appears to be holding steady even as conches decrease in number.

The meat of the conch is worth millions of dollars per year, and it also helps increase tourism to the islands.

Divers⁶ usually catch the conch by hand. They often use simple equipment such as a mask, snorkel⁷ and flippers. Sometimes divers can take home as many as 1,000 conches in a single trip.

Many divers fish for other species too, such as snapper, but they identify themselves as conch fishers first. And for many, fishing is both a family tradition and a path to middle class life on the islands, where the cost of living is higher than in the U.S.

Decline⁸ of traditional foods

Conch is one example of the threat overfishing presents to traditional foods around the world.

Similar problems are seen in Senegal, where overfishing has taken away white grouper. The fish has long been the basis for the national dish of thieboudienne.

Overfishing has also caused problems in the Philippines, where small fish supplies such as sardines⁹ that are used in kinilaw, a raw dish, have decreased.

Overfishing has hurt once numerous species. That means some culturally important foods are disappearing.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has stated that more than a third of the world's fish stocks are overfished. The FAO added that the rate of unsustainable fishing is rising.

The loss of such foods risks the availability of protein and iron in people's diets in poor countries, said Richard Wilk, of Indiana University's Department of Anthropology¹⁰.

Wilk said nations that fail to control overfishing risk repeating the mistakes of countries such as Japan. The Japanese herring fishery collapsed¹² in the middle of the 20th century.

Wilks said the collapse¹¹ cost jobs, reduced availability of a traditional wedding food, and left the country dependent on foreign supplies.

Words in This Story

conch – n. a type of shellfish that lives in a large shell which has the form of a spiral¹³

species –n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young

tourism – n. the business of providing hotels, restaurants, entertainment, etc., for people who are traveling

snorkel – n. a special tube that makes it possible to breathe while you are swimming with your head underwater

flippers – n. a flat rubber shoe that has a very wide front and that is used for swimming

unsustainable – adj. not able to last or continue for a long time

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

7 snorkel   

n.泳者所戴的通气管，潜水艇的吸、排气装置

参考例句：

• With a snorkel,however,a diver can stay under water for quite a long time.潜水员携带一根通气管就可以在水下呆很长时间。
• I did buy a mask and fins and a snorkel.我买了面镜、蛙鞋和一个呼吸管。

8 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。

9 sardines   

n. 沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
• Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的，但常常是装听的。

10 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

12 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

13 spiral   

adj.螺旋的；n.螺旋（线）；vi.盘旋上升（或下降）

参考例句：

• The production in this factory is spiral.这个厂的产量呈盘旋上升。
• Their profits began to spiral down disastrously.他们的利润开始螺旋形地急剧下降。