Conch Shells

[Harbie]

This might be a silly question (please dont get nasty) but you dont know till you ask....If you find an empty Conch Shell in the Carribean are you allowed to bring it on the ship to bring home?

[Sargent_Schultz]

Why not just buy a clean one and bring it home. If there are any pieces parts left in one you find, it will soon get stinky.

[firefly333]

Iv never found one that didnt have a live animal in it... even if the animal died, you would still have a stink. I dont know about sticking one in my suitcase. Not easy to get the guy out. In Florida its illegal to pick them up I was told after I did it lol.

 

I lived on a beach in S. FL, so Im speaking of ones I saw, never saw one "empty" that had already been cleaned out just laying there.

[okgirl]

The short answer is yes, but as others have said it probably has the remnants of prior occupants and would be quite stinky.

 

I was in Nassau in February and a local Conch diver made Conch ceveche' for us. It was delicious, but what surprised me was that the Conch grow with the shell and are permanently attached to the shell. To remove the conch he had to chip through the shell at the pointy base and make a hole about the size of a nickle. He then had to cut the foot loose to get the meat out.

 

He said that the shells that are sold to the public are then thoroughly cleaned, shined and the hole is repaired to where you can't hardly tell where it was to begin with.

[Harbie]

Well it sounds like I might just buy one then. I sure dont want a stink in my suitcase :D thanks everyone. And I might have to try eating it while we are there. I have never tried Conch?!? Thanks everyone.

[firefly333]

Well it sounds like I might just buy one then. I sure dont want a stink in my suitcase :D thanks everyone. And I might have to try eating it while we are there. I have never tried Conch?!? Thanks everyone.

 

I find it kind of chewy. Im not sure but the ceviche (sp?) in the fish and chips stations on conquest class might have it in it. I dont eat it because of the coconut milk used (Im allergic), but Iv heard its used.

 

The first conch fritters I had were in Bimini Bahamas on a long ago Carnival cruise, and they didnt get the sand out very well. chewy and gritty.

[screwsmcernst]

when we were in the Bahamas, I found a conch shell on the beach, and it did smell TERRIBLE!!!! I brought it back to our hotel, and the pool guy checked the shell for any left over bits, then gave me some granual clorine and a bucket, and I soaked it for the next 2 days. When we got to the airport, the customs agent pulled us out of line, and we had to wait for a U.S. Agriculture officer to look at the shell. He made sure it was ok, and he let us keep it, but he said that had I not bleached it, it would not have been allowed into the U.S. An interesting memory, but not worth the wait and almost missing our flight. I would not do it again. :)

[Cyndi03]

Wow, we were in Grand Turk the first of the month and my new cc friend found me one while snorkeling. It was empty. We carried it back home in our carry on and never had a problem, smell or otherwise. I guess I got lucky.

[Imani68]

My husband bought one on our cruise last year and it didn't make it home. We threw it away after the first night because it was too stinky in our cabin.

[itsalljimmysfault]

Yummmm...conch fritters...had some awesome ones in St. Thomas...sigh....

[maenzoe]

We did a conch dive on the way to see the stingrays in Grand Cayman. Many people on our excursion found conch shells--enough for every family to take one home. The tour guides cut the live animal out of each shell for us and then soaked the shells in bleach. We then had fresh conch right on the boat. As fire said in a prior post, they were quite chewy--but good. We had a balcony cabin and set the shell outside. Even with the bleach, it stunk!! If we didn't have a balcony, I don't think we could have stood the smell. It probably took a couple of weeks for the smell to completely go away, but now I have a beautiful conch shell that I actually ate the conch out of!

[marshhawk]

Good question, my DH found a dead "sea biscuit" while we were snorkeling in the Bahamas. We brought it home, in our suitcase. We didn't claim it, but I was not sure if it was legal or not. We have it on a shelf in the hall with our ship on a stick, and other shells.

[aprilivy]

I brought home several one year, but didn't realize how much they would stink until they brought us our luggage off the plane in Houston....Awful smell...but still have all 3 of them and lots of memories of diving for them....got a starfish, too.

[cdamion]

This might be a silly question (please dont get nasty) but you dont know till you ask....If you find an empty Conch Shell in the Carribean are you allowed to bring it on the ship to bring home?

 

Just buy one. I bought a large one from a guy that was just on the water near Nassau. He was making the salad out of them and selling shells cheap. I got the type you can blow for $10. Another guy had the kind you can not blow for $5-7. Mine did not stink at all.

 

-c

[RaiderFaninNM]

Just got back from Key West and yes they get all bent out of shape if you think about it, but then they sell it in various forms to eat, go figure:confused: Anyway I suggest buy one at one of the MANY various shops this way it will not stink it up and they will wrap it for the trip, we bought 2 of them, VERY nice ones and everyone loves them, BTW had some really good conch fritters at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville in Key West ;)...............

[alexieb]

Iv never found one that didnt have a live animal in it... even if the animal died, you would still have a stink. I dont know about sticking one in my suitcase. Not easy to get the guy out. In Florida its illegal to pick them up I was told after I did it lol.

 

I lived on a beach in S. FL, so Im speaking of ones I saw, never saw one "empty" that had already been cleaned out just laying there.

 

 

Not true. I did the stingray excursion on Grand Turk and found an empty conch shell on among the rocks on the private island. I brought it home with me in my carry on. It doesn't smell at all.

[MissRabbit]

i have 3 conch shells. 2 were found in the water off a beach in Nevis, empty. The other we bought from a guy (i think in Jamaica) who had just collected a bunch and had them in his little boat. He cleaned it for us and tapped out the end of it so we could blow in it to make noise.

 

None had critters in them. I don't recall the Jamaican local cutting out the conch either. None smelled. All made it home and have been sitting on display for years.

 

The really cool part...they are all 3 in different stages of life. We have a small one with super thin walls of shell. We have a medium sized one that is really pink and has thicker walls. Our third one is same sized, sort of, but it's walls are super thick with coral buildup. It has some pink in it but mostly in the inside where less coral has built on it.

 

I think my luck has been pressed too much so this cruise, we'll just go buy one in the store.

[tef43]

In Florida its illegal to pick them up I was told after I did it lol.

Only the "live" shells.

[Islandbear]

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) limites the importation of Queen Conch from Haiti & Grenada. It is allowed from other Caribbean ports, that have longterm conservation measures to sustainably manage queen conch populations in their waters. Steps have been taken to conserve U.S. native populations of queen conch. All harvest in Florida waters and adjacent Federal waters has been banned since the mid-1980s. Populations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also strictly managed.

[Missiowa]

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) limites the importation of Queen Conch from Haiti & Grenada. It is allowed from other Caribbean ports, that have longterm conservation measures to sustainably manage queen conch populations in their waters. Steps have been taken to conserve U.S. native populations of queen conch. All harvest in Florida waters and adjacent Federal waters has been banned since the mid-1980s. Populations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also strictly managed.

 

When we were in Puerto Rico we brought back 20 live hermit crabs, a starfish and conch shell(empty). Went through customs, and even asked the security guy in line if it was ok, we didn't want to get in trouble. He said "Sure", no problem. We stuck the live hermit crabs in a ziplock bag with a bunch of other shells we had picked up and made sure they were really wet with extra sea water in the bags. They made in thru customs, security, 7 1/2 hour plane ride and 3 hours home! Our kids loved them