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Baseline National Assessment of the Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) Fishery of Belize

Belize City, Belize - November 2025

Prepared By:

The Baseline Assessment of the Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) Fishery of Belize has been prepared by Kendra Karr of Pincoya Solutions, at the request of the Belize Fisheries Department, Ministry of Blue Economy & Marine Conservation, and WWF-US, in support of the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative. This assessment report has been reviewed by stakeholders and endorsed by the Belize Fisheries Department.

Summary:

A multi-indicator baseline assessment, integrating fishery-dependent data (1977–2024) and fishery-independent monitoring (2003–2024), was used to characterize the status and fishing pressure across Belize’s Queen Conch fishery. This assessment serves as a baseline rather than a comprehensive evaluation, providing a structured starting point for adaptive management.

Findings should be interpreted as directional, with the expectation that continued monitoring will refine and strengthen detected trends. As with all fisheries assessments, the true stock size and exact population status cannot be known with complete certainty. The assessment, therefore, relies on multiple independent data sources and a suite of performance indicators, each with varying interpretive strengths. Because data availability varies across regions and years, the results represent the best available evidence of current patterns but may not fully capture all aspects of the national fishery.

Across indicators, several consistent patterns emerge, suggesting increasing fishing pressure in recent years. MSY-based proxies indicate that the fishing mortality proxy in 2024 exceeded the reference levels (F/FMSY > 1), while the relative biomass proxy (B/BMSY) was at or slightly below target levels (B2024/BMSY ~ 1). Using pre-season fishery-independent length-frequency data, LBSPR analyses estimated a 2024 spawning potential ratio (SPR) of approximately 17.5%, below the commonly used 30% precautionary benchmark. The same length data show a mean shell length of 144 mm, with roughly 78% of individuals measuring below the 178 mm legal minimum size. However, these LBSPR and size-structure indicators must be interpreted within the constraints of the current survey design. The national conch survey does not sample known deep-water or seasonal spawning aggregation sites, where large, mature adults are concentrated.

As a result, fishery-independent data systematically underrepresent the largest size classes, which can bias LBSPR outputs, particularly SPR and the inferred F/M, toward suggesting greater depletion than may occur at the scale of the full stock. The observed low SPR and small mean size, therefore, reflect a combination of genuine fishing pressure and limitations in spatial survey coverage.

Despite these caveats, the convergence of multiple independent indicators, including surplus production modeling, cohort stability, and long-term production trends, supports the conclusion that the fishery is under increasing pressure. Importantly, these multi-indicator results are not management decisions themselves; instead, they provide evidence-based signals that help managers evaluate risk, identify emerging pressures, and determine where precautionary action may be warranted. These findings highlight opportunities to strengthen management by implementing precautionary harvest control measures and improving the standardization of effort reporting. Expanding fishery-independent monitoring to include spawning aggregation habitats, improving spatial coverage, and integrating multiple data streams will reduce uncertainty and support adaptive, ecosystem-based management of this culturally and economically important fishery.