Things You Always Wanted To Know About Conch
When you visit Caye Caulker, Belize, during conch season, there may be a few things you always wanted to know about!
Queen conch is a large sea snail that hangs out in the shallows, sand or sea grass near the Belize Barrier Reef. In Caye Caulker you can find delicious conch meat dishes and beautiful jewelry and other decorative handmade items from conch shell. But before you can enjoy the dishes or shell creations, let’s talk about how to catch a conch.
Harvesting Conch
Just like lobster season, we have a very strict season during which it’s permitted to catch, sell, and consume Queen Conch in Belize. The season usually lasts from October 1 through June 30.
Harvesting conch is restricted to individuals with commercial licenses during conch season.
While it is not difficult to “catch” a conch, the hard part is harvesting the meat out of the shell.
You will see the fishermen all over the island and if you want to learn how to do it, just ask one of them to show you.
However, here’s how it’s done in theory; the fisherman uses another conch shell or a knife to poke a small hole into the caught conch’s shell. The hole breaks the vacuum seal, so it relatively is easy to pull out the meat. Then the meat is cleaned with a fillet knife. If you’re around when someone is cleaning a conch, you may be invited to try “conch penis,” supposedly the male reproductive organ of the conch, said to be even more of an aphrodisiac than the conch meat itself. Full disclosure – I have not tried it…yet. But you know the saying that you should try everything once!
Anyway, adult conchs wander for miles instead of staying in one place. Rather than swimming, they use their feet to lift and then throw their bodies forward. According to Conch Facts, conchs also are good climbers. The average home range of a queen conch varies from a third of an acre to nearly 15 acres! So the empty shells are never tossed back into the area where the conch was captured. Empty shells signal that the area is unsafe to other conch. Fishermen instead wait until the end of the day and will unload their empty shells into a single spot.
Conch Shells
Conch shells are very pretty and decorative. While some use the cleaned shells as decoration, Belizean artists, such as Mr. Orlando August, create beautiful jewelry and other decorative art from conch shells.
Mr. August has been living on Caye Caulker for more than 50 years and is always working on new pieces, either on his porch at home or his little jewelry stand at the basketball court on Front Street.
Let’s talk about food!
Queen conch is not only favorite seafood in Belize, but all over the Caribbean and Mexico.
Our favorite ways to enjoy conch meat are;
Conch Ceviche
Conch Soup, Stew, or Chowder
Conch Fritters
Insider Tip: Watch out for Miss Ruby who rides her bike down Front Street and sells her homemade conch fritters every afternoon during conch season. Delicious!
Sometimes restaurants also serve conch as a main dish, such as fried or blackened. Some people find it too chewy or tough. However, if it’s cooked right, the fillet is quite tender!
What are your favorite conch dishes? Don’t worry – just about every restaurant in Caye Caulker (Where To Eat) will have conch dishes that will pleasure your taste buds.
You Like To Eat?
Check out the “Top 10 Food To Try In Caye Caulker”!
