The Queen Conch (Aliger gigas) is a sea mollusk or shellfish, whose shell can attain 30 cm in length and weigh up to three kilos. Queen Conch is traded for its meat and shell, found throughout the Caribbean, is heavily overfished and habitats (seagrass fields) for juveniles is decreasing.
The project “Pilot Outplanting Cultured Queen Conch Juveniles in Curacao and Bonaire” is financed by WWF. The goal of the project is to test the effectiveness of outplanting cultured juveniles to reinforce existing populations in Bonaire and Curaçao.
In this pilot 1-year and 2-year cultured Queen Conch (6-10 cm) will be tagged with PIT (Passive Integrated Transponders) tags. In this way juveniles can be monitored individually after outplanting. Data on migration, growth and survival are collected and will give information on the success of outplanting the cultured juveniles. Based on these results the project will give recommendations for potential large-scale outplanting projects.
Work to be done by the student
- 6 months on Bonaire (Jan-Jun 2025)
- Become acquainted with all details of the system including data processing: become the tag expert in the project
- Work closely together with the projectleader / marine biologist
- Prepare the field pilot on Bonaire:
- Select the right outplanting location
- Accept transported juveniles from Curaca- (CITES, and other paperwork)
- Tag juveniles
- Acclimate juveniles
- Outplant juveniles
- Carry out tasks independently (Projectmanager / marine biologist will be mainly on Curacao):
- Daily monitoring of juveniles first 2 weeks (after these 2 weeks lower frequency)
- Registrer and process monitoring data
- Educate hands-on STINAPA ranger or fisherman in the monitoring work
Student Profile
- Bachelor level Marine Sciences or related minimum, MSc preferred.
- Knowledge of the Dutch and English language preferred, knowledge of Papiamentu will be beneficial
- Scuba certificate and driving license preferred
- Excellent data analysis skills
- Creative and able to improvise
- Must be able to work independently and proactively find solutions: supervision in Bonaire will be limited
Interested? Please send your CV and motivation letter to Monique van de Water at mwater@wwf.nl.