Reducing Small Sea Scallop and Sand Dollar Catch Through Dredge Bag Modifications
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Wind farms are being constructed in productive scallop fishing grounds, which is affecting the scallop fishing industry. This means that fishermen need to find more efficient ways to catch scallops in areas with less than optimal conditions. An example of this type of area is somewhere where there are a lot of sand dollars or small scallops. This project aimed to help fishermen catch fewer of this unwanted catch while catching scallops more efficiently in these areas.
To do this, we tested different modifications to the standard scallop dredge bag. The standard regulatory size for steel rings in the dredge bag is currently four inches. In collaboration with commercial fishing vessels, we tested this standard bag against three modified bag designs in at-sea trials: a standard bag with stretched-out rings and chains, and two bags that incorporated larger ring sizes. The data is being used to determine how effective these bag modifications are at reducing large catches of sand dollars and small scallops. Additionally, we evaluated whether these modifications improve the catch of larger-sized scallops, thereby creating another option for fishermen to increase fishing effort efficiency.
Download a summary flyer for this project here!
Project goals:
1. Expand on previous research in exploring scallop gear modifications
2. Test adaptations of gear already employed within the scallop fleet
2. Evaluate modifications that can reduce small scallop mortality and sand dollar bycatch while possibly improving larger scallop catch
Project results:
Click here to read the final report for this project.
Project team:
Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation
Becky Smoak - Project Lead
N. David Bethoney
Collaborators
Jake Wiscott, F/V Susan L
Chris Roebuck, F/V Karen Elizabeth
