There’s only one in the world, and it’s on Providenciales. Its commercial mission—to develop conch from eggs to maturity for food and to ease fishing pressure on wild stocks— may sound prosaic, but believe me, the Conch Farm experience is awesome. Conch (pronounced “konk”) means shell in Greek, and in case anyone is wondering, a conch is that spiral, wide-lipped shell with pink interior, the kind that can be used as a horn as it was by Triton in Greek mythology and by the boys in Lord of The Flies.
You’ll find the Conch Farm on the east end of Providenciales. Chuck Hesse, a marine biologist from Mystic, Connecticut, started the farm over twenty-five years ago. He was sailing around the world when he crashed his 24-foot sloop Alondra on one of Provo’s reefs and decided to stay.
The conch farm overlooks those sparkling, crystal-clear turquoise waters for which the Turks and Caicos are famous. You’ll note ravages of Hurricane Ike (2008) surrounding several quaint wooden buildings perched above a network of piers. Only part of the pier to the left remains, another memento from Ike. You’ll meet your guide in the gift shop and proceed to an adjacent room adorned with charts and pictures to complement the presentation.
Danver Fortune was my guide. He explained that divers search shallow sea grass and sandflat areas for banana-shaped, jelly-like masses, each containing a half-million eggs. They bring the egg masses to the conch farm’s two-story hatchery where five to seven days later, conch larvae or veligers hatch from these eggs. Veligers spend the next three to four weeks swimming and thriving on a diet of microscopic floating algae painstakingly grown in the hatchery by aquaculture technician Eiglys. With a half million mouths to feed, I imagine that growing micro algae is a full-time job. Eiglys also grows microscopic bottom-feeding algae to nourish conch in their metamorphosis stage. Because of the delicate nature of growing bacteria-free micro algae, the hatchery is off-limits to visitors.
We proceeded to meta, a Quonset hut restored after Ike thanks to the generosity of the Sandals Resort and Flight Crew Foundation. Meta, which houses conch in the metamorphosis stage, is filled with rows of long tables lined with shallow white trays of ocean water, each containing a thousand tiny conch, each the size of a grain of sand. If you look closely, you’ll see some of them moving around. At this point, the baby conch is developing its shell, which is at first transparent so that with proper equipment, one can see through to the internal organs.
Next stop is the post-larval stage where the conch remain on their liquid bottom-feeding algae diet, but now it’s supplemented with algae pellets. Black plastic trays contain baby conch that look huge compared with the grains they once were, but everything is relative. (See the accompanying photo with two of these post-larval conch resting on the tip of employee Fritz’s index finger!)
At six months, the conch are considered juveniles and transported to onshore concrete ponds with strong water circulation and sand bottoms. After about a year and a half, they are ready to be moved to the natural environment of the offshore pens. The conch reach sexual maturity and can produce eggs after four years, when they also develop the characteristic pink, orange, and yellow flared lip of the queen conch shell. A popular tourist souvenir, these shells protect the mollusks from predators like lobsters and turtles.
A highlight of the tour is when Danver introduces Sally and Jerry, accommodating conch who uncharacteristically come out of their shells to flaunt their features and chill with visitors. Holding up a conch in each hand, Danver explains that queen conch are large sea mollusks like snails, since they have a flattened muscular foot for locomotion and a head with stalked eyes. Apparently Sally and Jerry have been around for a very long time, which Chuck later explained by likening their longevity to Lassie’s.
Conch is an important source of protein in the Caribbean. Most of the white, peach-fringed meat is firm, sweet, tender, and succulent, but since conch meat is muscle, some can be chewy unless tenderized.with a mallet. All the meat is used in all of the various conch dishes like fritters (a mix of green peppers, onions, spices, tomato paste, and flour rolled into balls then deep fried), chowder (New England clam chowder style with conch instead of clams), stew (tomato based), cracked (fried in batter), ceviche (marinated in lime or lemon juice, often with onions, peppers, cilantro, tomato, and spices), and salad—hungry yet?
Unfortunately, queen conch populations are disappearing for several reasons: demand is high, conch take three plus years to mature in the wild, and improved diving equipment allows for greater harvesting. Additionally, widespread freezer storage in the Caribbean and refrigerated transport have contributed to the decline of queen conch populations in the wild.
The Caicos Conch Farm was the first and is currently the only commercial conch culture venture. Besides pursuing commercial conch farming for human consumption, the farm releases hatchery-produced juveniles to the wild to increase local populations. Before Ike, the Caicos Conch Farm housed from three to four million queen conch. After losing almost everything in the hurricane, the farm now has about half a million at various stages of development. The farm's goal is to produce three million queen conch per year. Currently only processed meat is shipped unless someone specially requests live conch.
I suggested to Chuck that as a marketing gimmick, he could give a free conch shell with each paid admission. He said no way, that a healthy portion of the farm’s revenue comes from the sale of queen conch shells. Most of these shells are shipped abroad, but check out the gift shop where, besides conch shells of different sizes for decoration or horns, you’ll also find unusual T-shirts and a variety of conch jewelry.
Mere words are inadequate to describe the Conch Farm experience. I guarantee that after visiting, you’ll regard your conch fritters, curried conch, cracked conch, and conch salad with respect bordering on awe.
Conch World/ Caicos Conch Farm
Heaving Down Rock
Leeward, Providenciales
(just before Walkin’s Marina/Ferry Terminal)
Tour: $10 Open Mon-Fri 9-4 and Sat 9-2
