The queen conch fishing season is scheduled to close on May 31, 2014, or when the 50,000 pound quota for combined federal and St. Croix territorial waters is reached, whichever comes first.
The new commercial trip limit for the harvest of queen conch in federal waters is 200 queen conch per vessel per day.
This trip limit applies to the whole US Caribbean exclusive economic zone but only affects the management subzone of St. Croix, which is the only area in federal waters where fishing for queen conch is currently allowed.
The federal waters around Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. John remain closed for all fishing of queen conch.
This bulletin provides only a summary of the information regarding the existing regulations. Any discrepancies between this bulletin and the regulations as published in the Federal Register will be resolved in favor of the Federal Register.
