FAU Receives $2.8M Gift to Create Queen Conch Farm

I’m delighted to share that Florida Atlantic’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute has received a $2.8 million donation from the Builders Initiative Foundation to establish a queen conch hatchery in Grand Bahama. This gift will further develop HBOI’s impressive aquaculture and food security program, which focuses on replenishing queen conch populations. Additionally, it will support the development of a conceptual master plan to create a 25-acre innovation hub for sustainability researchers.

The future Grand Bahama hatchery is the fifth FAU partnership project that aims to restore queen conch in the Caribbean. Since 2016, HBOI has established queen conch farms in Puerto Rico, Curacao and Great Exuma, Bahamas. Research professor Megan Davis, Ph.D., is the world’s leading expert on queen conch aquaculture and will lead the forthcoming queen conch farm in collaboration with the Bahamian community and a robust network of local partners.

We are extremely grateful to the Builders Initiative for their generous support of our queen conch restoration efforts. FAU’s work in aquaculture is helping to meet the growing global demand for food, thanks to partners like Builders Initiative who share our belief in sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. We also appreciate our strategic partners working on key areas of establishment, including Blue Action Lab, Bahamas National Trust, University of The Bahamas, Perry Institute of Marine Science and The Nature Conservancy.

This project and its corresponding gift mark an exciting time in FAU’s commitment to health and environmental endeavors. We look forward to advancing this important aquaculture research and working with our esteemed partners to support queen conch populations throughout the Caribbean.