09
Jan 19

We need to Bahamas to be better than the US

I’ve had it in salad. I’ve had it in fritters. I’ve had it deep fried. I’ve had it in chowder. My daughter has even had it raw.

When I think of the Bahamas, I think of conch. But… there was a time when you might think of the Keys when you thought of conch. I have a vague recollection of my dad having a conch salad when I made my first trip to Florida around… oh… 1984. But, you won’t find conch for sale in the Keys these days.

From what I gather the Keys conch fishery collapsed in the mid 70’s and all commercial and recreational harvesting of conch was banned in 1985. To this day… 33 years later, the fishery still hasn’t recovered.

The Bahamas has shown signs of stress and it keeps getting more and more pressure heaped on it as the out islands gather conch to eat locally and to send to all those tourists in Nassau and export markets.

The whole show may only have 10-15 years according to a new study.

I can’t even imagine the impact a conch collapse would have economically on Bahamians. Something has to change and in this, I hope the Bahamians can learn from the mistakes of their Western neighbors.

Cracked


22
Dec 17

Imagine the Bahamas without conch

It isn’t hard to imagine. I know I’ve seen conch too small to be legally harvested make their way to the shell piles. Here’s a story about measures being proposed to preserve the conch fishery into the future. There is something here about illegal foreign poachers, but all that damage you’d want done could be done by Bahamians themselves as they respond the a huge demand.

Cracked

China is circling the Bahamas, looking for fresh seafood to feed their billion+ people and I bet they’d like some nice conch fritters.

Florida lost their conch. Will the Bahamas follow them?

I hope not. I really hope not. I hope strong measures are taken (and FOLLOWED) in the Bahamas to keep the conch around for generations.


02
Dec 14

Queen Conch in the Bahamas in Danger

Cracked

Cracked

If you’ve been down to Florida in the past many years and enjoyed some Conch Fritters, you’ve likely been enjoying Queen Conch from the Bahamas (or some other Caribbean nation). The Conch in Florida are off limits since the fishery collapsed in the 80’s.

The Bahamas seems a world apart from the massive population of Florida. There are, after all, only about 320,000, as compared to 19,500,000 over in Florida. It seems hard to imagine the conch fishery in the Bahamas could face a similar fate as that suffered by Florida. The Bahamas, in places, seems like endless habitat for conch (and bonefish).

Well… where is there is demand there is money and where there is money, people will chase it down, bulldozing anything in their way, even their own futures. It turns out there are some real concerns about the fate of Conch in the Bahamas.

The group Community Conch is hoping to address this issue.


09
Jun 14

Things I love about the Bahamas

When I think of the Bahamas, I think about fishing, sure, but I also think about Kalik and Conch. Conch is not one of those things you can get just anywhere. That is saying something in this day and age. You can get a Starbucks Latte in Nassau. You can get Pizza Hut and KFC in Freeport. But Conch… sure, you can get it in the Keys, but you don’t find it on menus in California.

If you have some Conch hanging around though… here’s how you make some fritters.

Goodness from Long Island.

Goodness from Long Island.


18
Feb 12

Skills with the Conch

This guys is pretty good with his knife.  Benihana’s, Exuma style.

 


14
Dec 09

I Love Crack(ed Conch)

Bonefish live in lots of places with lots of interesting things to eat and drink.  In the case of the Bahamas, one thing you’ll find in great supply is Conch (pronounced “konk”). Conch is, as you probably know, a really big mollusk with firm, white meat.  There are Conch Fritters and Conch Chowder and Cracked Conch and Conch Conch and, well, you get the idea.

On my upcoming trip I don’t plan on eating out too much (think Ritz Crackers and Peanut Butter).  One thing I am looking forward to is at least one night of Cracked Conch.  Cracked Conch is basically like clam strips, but made with conch.  It is super yummy and will be washed down by a nice cold Kalik beer.

Bahamian Cuisine

Cracked Conch

Ingredients: 1 ½ lb. conch, 1 oz. lemon juice, 2oz. flour, 3 eggs

Method : Cut the conch in half horizontally and tenderize. Marinate the conch in the lemon juice for ½ hour. Beat the eggs and dip the conch in the flour, egg wash and finally dip again into the flour. Deep fry. Serves 4.

Pretty simple… and simply delicious.

Post Cracked

Pre-Cracked... kind of pretty, really.