Yes, John,

The Passenger Pigeon (hunted for squab [meat]) and the Carolina Parakeet
(hunted for feathers and killed as an agricultural pest) were purported to
be the amongst the most common birds in the USA.  However, they were still
somewhat limited in range and it is said that they had a very fragile
critical mass and/or habits for breeding, which finally tipped and they both
went extinct.

Fortunately the Queen Conch has a much wider distribution and accessibility
issues to many populations.

Leslie
Pasadena


From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John
Varner
Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2013 8:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Lobatus gigas

Two years ago on Eleuthera, I spoke with some conch fishermen working on a
heap of L. gigas being prepped for sale in Gregorytown.  There were at least
100 full grown specimens, and this was just one day's catch.  They go out a
few days a week.  Fresh cleaned conch meat @ $2/conch (more than an entree's
worth) on Eleuthera made for a great meal of conch ceviche.  The shells are
dumped like trash or used as building material.   ( a bit heart-wrenching
for a shell collector!)  It's hard to know if the specie will end up being
overfished in the Bahamas as it was in the FL Keys - there are an awful lot
of shoals with algae patches ideal for conch in between all those islands.
But the conchers report they now have to go several miles out to find them
in large numbers.
Humans did manage to exterminate the passenger pigeon, which once darkened
the skies in the US with flocks in the millions, and we nearly wiped out the
buffalo....

- John

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