The conch population in the Bahamas is dropping significantly.

Conchs are sea snails with hard pink and orange shells.

Their meat is considered a Bahamian delicacy, often steamed, deep fried or served raw with Citrus juices and fresh vegetables.

But overfishing in the Caribbean puts conch populations at risk and potentially 9000 Bahamian fishers out of work.

That's about 2% of the country's small population.

In 2015 more than £400,000 of conch were exported from the Bahamas, worth roughly $2.3 million.

Conchs requires specific conditions to reproduce.

They could Onley meat when 50 or more snails in a group are releasing eggs at once and because of overfishing, conks air struggling to gather in large enough numbers needed for meeting this'll means the hard shell see animals may eventually die of old age.

Before ever reproducing, scientists encouraged divers who fish for conks toe leave the snails inside their shells.

That way, fishers can determine if the conch is old enough to be legally removed from the ocean by looking at how thick the shells flared.

Lip is the thicker the shells flair, lip the older.

The conch conchs were largely populated species in the Florida Keys until overfishing and commercial harvesting cause it's fishery to collapse in 1975.

Haiti and Aruba also have been subject to conk overfishing, so scientists have made recommendations to better protect the sea snails.

They suggest establishing a size limit for legally harvesting conch based on a shell lip thickness of 15 millimeters, ensuring the snails are mature enough.

They also recommend ending conch exports from the Bahamas.