The Pink or Queen Conch (Strombus gigas), can grow to be a foot or more in length and has a smooth pink interior. (Horse conch snails can grow to be 2 feet long!). The pretty shell is in danger of disappearing because of its collection as a decoration after the snail is pulled from it’s home to be eaten!
Have you ever eaten conch? I have not. In Florida and other Caribbean areas, the conch is a delicacy and is made into fritters and other food, but it has been over fished so there are restrictions and fines associated with the collecting of it. Conch meat is used in chowder, salads, fried, fritters, sandwiches and more.
For these two reasons, the Queen or Pink conch is in high demand. It is very unlikely that you will just come across a large, empty queen conch on the beach. They are trawled and taken from their homes out in the ocean and brought in for shell shops and restaurants. The queen conchs I have were purchased over 20 years ago at a shell shop some place in Florida. At the time, I never thought about where they came from, but I would definitely not purchase one now.
So when you vacation in the tropics, you might want to think twice before ordering conch fritters just to be able to say you’ve tried it.
*More strange food they eat in Florida – Alligator and turtle. I lived across the street from some people who had a cookout and the food was served buffet style. I added to my plate what looked like chicken nuggets and fortunately I was told that it was turtle meat before I tried it. Yikes, that was close. I love the Gopher turtles and could never ever eat one!
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Fight for the protection of molluscs (seashells) is not so well known in the world in general. So, being a conchophile, I have often wondered what kind of impact would seashell industries have on the marine ecology. So, it was a nice feeling when I discovered your postings on the need to spare these humble molluscs.