Commercial Whelk Fishery

The natural ranges of Busycon canaliculatum (channeled whelk) and Busycon carica (knobbed whelk) overlap from Massachusetts to northeast Florida. Whelks, also called conchs, are found in shallow coastal waters from spring through fall, but migrate offshore during the winter.

You may have seen egg capsules washed up on Delaware Bay and other East Coast beaches. The warm estuarine waters and sandy sediments of Delaware Bay provide excellent spawning habitat for both species of conch. Amazingly, it can take a whelk an entire week to lay one of those strings! On average, whelks reach sexual maturity in three to five years.

Whelks are harvested in the United States from April to December. Baited pots, trawls, and dredges are each suitable for harvesting whelks, but trap design influences which species are harvested. Knobbed whelks are unable to scale the side of a baited pot due to their large, heavy shells. Channeled whelks have smaller shells; the laws of physics work in their favor. As a result, baited pots are used to harvest channeled whelks, whereas trawls and dredges select for both species.

Delaware watermen typically use wooden or heavy-duty plastic pots to harvest whelks. An average of 350 pots are baited and tended every one to two days. Horseshoe crabs are the preferred bait in Delaware Bay. Both male and female crabs attract whelks to fishermen's pots. Based on a survey of Delaware Bay watermen, bait needs of each whelk fisherman were estimated to be 20,000 to 25,000 horseshoe crabs per year. On average, pots were baited with one female or two male horseshoe crabs. However, integration of bait bags and bait extenders into fishing practices has significantly reduced bait needs in the Mid-Atlantic States.

Prior to the 1980s, whelk meat did not command a high market price, but the 1990s have seen an increase in fishing effort. A decline in the population of the Caribbean Queen conch, Strombus gigas, has necessitated a search for alternative sources of whelk meat. In addition, uncertainty over the future of the blue crab and stricter regulation of regional fisheries influenced some to trade their gear for conch pots.

In 1999, over 3 million pounds of whelk were harvested for domestic and foreign seafood markets. Sixty-eight percent came from Mid-Atlantic waters, mainly Virginia.

Fifty-five percent of the 1999 whelk harvest was exported to foreign countries for human consumption. Who would eat a giant snail, you ask? Check the menu of your favorite Italian restaurant for "scungilli." If you are planning a trip to the Caribbean, conch fritters and conch chowder are savory island specialties.