Title: Towards a management plan for Antigua and Barbuda's Queen conch fisheries: a co-management approach

Queen conch is a large, sedentary, long-lived species of mollusc that is vulnerable to overexploitation throughout much of its lifetime. Antigua and Barbuda’s queen conch fishery is relatively small, however it holds the potential to contribute to the nation’s economic development once proper measures are put in place to optimize economic benefit to communities while maintaining stock sustainability. Given the small, homogenous nature of the fishery, a co-management approach is recommended as the most appropriate management regime to achieve this. This document presents a proposal for a co-management plan for Antigua and Barbuda’s queen conch fishery. The primary goal of the plan is to ensure the sustainable harvest of queen conch resources in Antigua and Barbuda’s waters through the adoption of a participatory approach to management while maximising economic and social benefits to fishing communities engaged therein. A simple bioeconomic model is used to gauge the current state of the fishery and to determine effort levels that will help to optimise profit.