Our Products

Conch and Lobster from the Turks and Caicos

The Turks and Caicos Islands boast a thriving commercial fishing industry, which is governed by strict environmental protection and conservation policies and guidelines. The islands are also signatory to the CITES convention, unlike many other Caribbean countries, that prevent the exploitation and allow for sustainable use of conch and lobster. Unlike other Caribbean countries, the Turks and Caicos Islands are not faced with any CITES embargo restrictions, we are free to export both conch and lobster due to the conservation practices that are enforced in the islands.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a preferred habitat of the queen conch and spiny lobster because of the large stretches of shallow sandy banks that surrounded by the world’s third largest coral reef.

Conch and lobster harvesting is done on a seasonal basis. Harvesting and exporting of these products during the closed season is strictly prohibited.

The Seasons

Conch – October 15th to July 15th. There is also a quota for conch which is set each season. The quota may be reached before the end of the season, the end of harvesting is dependent on which one comes first.

Lobster – August 1st to March 31st. There is no quota for lobster harvesting.

The Queen Conch

The queen conch is a large, marine, gastropod mollusk. Mollusks are soft-bodied animals that may have a hard external shell composed of calcium carbonate, a hard internal shell, or no shell at all. Queen conchs have an external, spiral-shaped shell with a glossy pink or orange interior.

Queen conchs have separate sexes and reproduce through internal fertilization. After mating, females lay long egg masses that contain hundreds of thousands of eggs, which hatch after about 5 days. Larvae then spend about 18-40 days floating and feeding in the "plankton" before settling to the bottom and metamorphosing into the adult form. Once in their adult form, they graze on algae and detritus. They live in sand, seagrass bed, and coral reef habitats.

Queen conchs are prized for both their edible meat and attractive shell. Conch is either prepared as a dish such as chowders, gumbos, stews, fritters, cracked conch or burgers or can be served raw or pickled.

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster

Spiny lobsters are a member of a class of aquatic arthropods known as crustaceans, a grouping that includes about 35,000 species. In addition to lobsters, the class crustacea includes crabs, shrimps, and barnacles.

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Panulirus argus inhabits tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. It is nocturnal specie that hides within coral reefs during the day. It lacks the large pinching claws of their Maine lobster relatives. Its only defenses are the spines that cover its shell. Its main predator is the moray eels and nurse shark.

The Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, mates between March and June using external fertilization for reproduction. The reproductive glands are found on the sixth thoracic segment of females and on the eighth thoracic segment of males. During mating, the male passes a thick spermatophore to the female known as a "tarspot" that fertilizes her eggs. She carries the fertilized eggs externally on her thorax where they become hard and black. At this stage the female deposits the eggs in a protected place where they grow into a larval stage and become planktonic.

There are many different ways to prepare a lobster meal but it is most commonly offered as a boiled or steamed dish, either whole or as a tail and maybe prepared in salads, soups, chowders and other items.

Products:

SPINY LOBSTER (Panulirus argus)

• Whole Split
• Whole Lobster Tail
• Split Tail
• Head meat

QUEEN CONCH (Strombus gigas)

• Tenderised conch meat
• Conch Steak
• Conch trimmings

FINFISH

• Snapper and grouper (Fresh or Frozen)
  • Fillet
  • Whole

Process of Capture:

Conch & Lobster

• Wild captured.
• Transported to processing plant based on established standards.
• Inspecting of all products before processing.
• Time and temperature control of product during processing and transport.
• No adulteration.

Fin Fish

• Wild captured.
• Immediately bleed and gutted.
• Stored on board captured vessels on ice.
• Inspecting of all products before processing.
• Time and temperature control of product during processing.
• No adulteration.