Linda Bush wrote:

> Hi!
>
> A fellow collector told me recently that the Queen Conchs are now so numerous in the Keys that there are some places where you can't help walking on them.  Any comments??
>
> Caio,
> Linda

Protection, translocation, and nursery operations have all been
focused on the Keys, and the results have been pretty dramatic.
But there's still plenty of room to put yer feet without
stepping on one.

Further north, harvesting never was as intense but the rebound
is also not as dramatic. Locally (Boynton reefs) there are, I'm
guessing, 500 dead juveniles for every live adult I see.

No doubt they will come back to the point that some harvesting
is allowed, just as alligators did and as jewfish seem to be,
but right now the stocks have to increase enough to fight the
predation rates.

m

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