PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — Over the past 18 years, a privately-owned company, Trade Wind Industries (TWI) Ltd, have spent about US$8 million to pioneer the study and implementation of commercial conch farming on this small Caribbean island.

But faced with a less than profitable enterprise, as well as space constraints, they are looking to other countries, including Jamaica, as potential sites where the conch they hatch can mature.

“We are actually trying right now to set up ‘grow-out’ farms in other countries and Jamaica has been looked at quite seriously,” explained Catherine Dyer, the production manager at the world’s first conch farm.

The Caicos Conch Farm sits on 10 acres of land that hold a hatchery, gift shop and 48 ponds. They also operate another 60 leased acres at sea where several fenced-in areas are used as pens. The onshore ponds can hold up to two million juvenile conch, which are then transferred out to sea where it takes each conch two-and-a-half years to reach adulthood in the enclosed pens that protect them from predators.

The Caicos Farm’s hatchery can produce six million conch eggs annually from harvested egg masses that can hold up to 500,000 eggs each. From these, the farm reliably produces 1.5 million juvenile conchs annually and about one million conchs are now at sea in the protected pens.

The facility began with the onshore ponds and was later expanded offshore but it needs to add another 150 ponds to speed up growth — a vital component of commercial farming as the existing market is for mature conch, which offer more meat than the juveniles.

“Most of what we sell is small and people are used to the big fillets of meat,” said Dyer. “So we’re trying to open a brand new market, basically. We’re trying to get bigger ones which we know will sell (easily) but it’s taken a long time to get into the market, to get established. Now we have lots and lots of small ones to sell, it’s just that the market (for the small conch) needs to be created before we can make money.”

The lack of profitability in the conch farming business stems from the lengthy period between the initial investment and the monetary returns, as it takes conch five to seven years to grow to the popular mature size. That was a major contributing factor to the reluctance exhibited by Jamaican industry players when the idea of local conch farming was examined a few years ago.

“There was a discussion about rearing conch here but I think once the people who were in the business of catching conch realised how long it would take, it just died a natural death,” said Dr Dunbar Steele.

He works out of the dean’s office at the University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences and has years of experience in aquaculture. According to Dr Steele, it is possible to farm conch in Jamaica, but the question is, ‘would anybody want to?’

“Those things are generally cost intensive and, therefore, nobody wants to touch them,” he said.

During an interview with the Sunday Observer after a tour of the Caicos Conch Farm, the operations manager conceded that they are still losing money even after almost 20 years in the business that was originally started to protect the species.

“We don’t make money here at all,” Dyer said. “We spend about US$700,000 (J$32.9 million) a year on operational costs between running diesel pumps, electricity and hiring people.”

There are about 20 members of staff who, in addition to feeding and nurturing the conch from egg sack to maturity, conduct on-site tours.

The farm earns about US$60,000 (J$2.8 million) a year from entry fees and souvenir sales. Turks residents are allowed free entry, while visiting adults are charged US$6, children US$3 and members of groups of eight or more pay US$5 each.

The bulk of the farm’s revenue is earned from export, and it was the number one source of conch shipped to the US in 2000. Dyer was unable to provide TWI’s export earnings but according to her, the operation, as a whole, is not profitable.

“We’re nowhere near to breaking even, I can tell you that,” she said. “We’re getting there but it’s taken us 15 years to get to where we can reliably produce conch so we can start to sell them.”

According to their latest newsletter, the Conch Farm can get between US$20-$30 per pound for their fresh, farmed meat. In comparison, the frozen meat of wild (not farm-raised) conch fetches anywhere between US$5 and $10 a pound.

The live molluscs are available for sale, at various stages of their life cycle, to persons interested in establishing grow-out ponds. The conch farm is willing to provide the technological assistance needed and provides a guaranteed market for the end product.

But just how much would it cost to start a conch farm?

According to data provided by TWI Ltd, onshore ponds cost US$6,000 (Approx J$282,000) each and have a life span of up to 20 years with minimum maintenance. TWI’s operational costs, such as feed, labour, fuel for pumps and supplies are US$273 per month per pond. Twenty ponds can fit on a one-acre piece of land, and during the 29-month growth cycle, there is a 95-100 per cent survival rate.

One drawback is the volume of water these onshore ponds use, as they require a continuous flow of 50 gallons per minute.

Offshore pens cost US$2,000 each and will last about four years. The monthly operating cost is US$100 per pen and 20 pens can be accommodated over one acre of water. Based on six-month trial data, survival and growth rates are similar to those in the ponds.

TWI recommends a mix of mature and juvenile conch to maximise profits and decrease the period between investment and returns.

“There’s always going to be a market for the bigger ones, but waiting five years for the product is too long, so if you can sell something at two years old that’s great,” Dyer said.

TWI has established an efficient network through which their conch is sold at various ages. They even use FedEx to deliver both live and freshly killed conch to Miami. Once there, a distributor uses the same express service to supply US-based customers.

In Providenciales, where conch meat is very popular, TWI has links to restaurants that serve the smaller conch, and these establishments get a plug during the farm tour.

But the high-protein white meat is less popular in Jamaica, another reason, Dr Steele said, that conch farming may not take off here.

“I suppose (reaping the smaller conch would make local conch farming more attractive) but I would have to have a really good feasibility study because, first of all, Jamaicans don’t like conch, basically, as a people,” he said. “I come from the Eastern Caribbean, so I like conch. Most people here don’t buy it so you don’t have a big market locally. So if you’re going to set it up you’re gonna have to export it and that brings in all kinds of other things.”

He also pointed to the high operating costs, as well as the security issues that would almost certainly arise.

In an almost crime-free Providenciales, there are only two police officers and only 30 people were jailed last year. Major enterprises like the conch farm are fenced but there is minimum security both on land and at sea.

“I think the conch probably is not on for us,” Dr Steele said. “But I’ll just put an idea in your head: we have a lot of white urchins that Jamaicans don’t eat but the Japanese pay a fortune for them. Somebody should look at that. They can harvest them and sell them live, or if it really takes off they could go into the business of harvesting them. That’s worth doing, very much worth doing.”