|
|
|
Feature Articles
|
Sea scallops: Setting research priorities
|
This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
WEST BOOTHBAY HARBOR, ME - In May 2000, the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) undertook a research agenda-setting effort for five of Maine's major commercial species: clams, lobsters, scallops, sea urchins, and shrimp. Meetings with industry were held for each of the species. The following is the last of a monthly DMR page series that summarizes the results of those meetings. (Contact CFN for copies of the clam, lobster, urchin, and shrimp research summaries.)
The sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) had a landed value of $4.4 million in Maine in 1999. The same year there were 741 boats with commercial scallop licenses and 353 scallop divers in Maine. The state also licenses noncommercial draggers, and allows unlicensed, limited, noncommercial diving.
Scallops are managed by both the federal and state management agencies. The federal scallop plan focuses primarily offshore on the large scallop resource and fishery on Georges Bank. With minor exception, Maine boats no longer participate in the federal scallop fishery.
Maine is unusual in New England because it has a viable inshore, small-boat scallop fishery, a significant portion of which occurs in state waters. Of the 741 scallop license holders, only 32 vessels hold federal general scallop permits that allow them to harvest 400 pounds of scallops per trip outside state waters. At most a couple of Maine scallopers hold limited access federal permits.
The Maine scallop fishery is pursued by a variety of fishermen: lobstermen fishing during the off-season; draggermen who also fish for ocean quahogs and sea urchins; and divers who also dive for urchins. Some groundfish draggers will rig for scallops if the abundance is great enough. State management has been limited to season, gear, and scallop size restrictions. The fishery has been managed principally to minimize gear conflict with the lobster industry. For this reason, the season runs from Dec. 1 to April 15.
Interest in scallop enhancement is the latest development in the fishery and is providing the impetus for far more research and experimentation. Information about scallop enhancement techniques resulted from a trip to Japan in May, 1998 organized by DMR and the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center. Fishermen along the coast are now experimenting with setting spat bags to collect spat for redistribution on scallop beds. There is interest in using the same technique for growout in private aquaculture.
Forty-one people attended the day-long scallop meeting that was held May 16, 2000 at the University of Maine at Machias. Topics and presenters included: Assessment and current management — Dan Schick, DMR; Biology and oceanography — Brian Beal, University of Maine at Machias; Enhancement — Richard Taylor, Gloucester, MA; and Gear — John Higgins, University of Maine Darling Marine Center.
The issues discussed at the scallop meeting were confined entirely to inshore Maine scallop issues and did not cover questions about the offshore Gulf of Maine or Georges Bank fishery.
Scallops have been a cyclical species in inshore Maine, occurring in patches that tend to be fished out quickly. Research questions focus on techniques to understand the mechanisms that control abundance of scallops, thereby providing insight for actions to harvest within the constraints of the species.
-
Nearshore Oceanography
As with clams and urchins, using enhancement as a lens focuses scallop research questions on understanding nearshore oceanography and scallop life history at a most basic and local level.
Research priorities are to conduct fine-scale research and current modeling to determine scallop larval dispersement patterns; locate the effective broodstock for each scallop area; understand the mechanisms that determine the relationship between adult scallop biomass and recruitment success; and determine if adult scallops or scallop larvae move inshore and/or offshore.
-
Life History
Life history, growth, and behavior questions also rise to the top. Research priorities are to determine what triggers scallop spawning (e.g. is it density dependent?), document and understand scallop growth rates in different areas, and study predation on scallops at larval and juvenile life stages.
-
Gear
With the widespread focus on the effects of dragging, scallopers place a high priority on credible studies of the impact of scallop gear on the bottom and its impact on the scallop resource and discard rate. Conservation engineering on scallop gear emerged as a very high priority.
Research priorities are to improve the design of scallop gear to better select out juveniles, reduce discards, and reduce bottom impacts; develop and communicate credible methods for doing gear impact research; research impacts of dragging on the bottom and ecology with credible methods; and study cumulative effects of dragging on Cobscook Bay.
-
Enhancement
Scallop enhancement activities are stimulating an unprecedented level of discussion, both about enhancement and management of the traditional fishery. The discussion includes basic science questions, new opportunities for monitoring and assessment, and numerous policy questions. The discussion seeks information on a very fine scale, about local phenomena rather than statewide or Gulf of Maine wide issues.
A May, 1998 trip to Japan provided information about spat collection, bottom aquaculture, and wild reseeding that supports the scallop industry in that country. Since then, local efforts by fishermen to collect spat have started in a number of locations including Cobscook Bay, Stonington, and Saco. The effort is in a very early stage of development.
The development of enhancement techniques provides an opportunity for collaborative work that links basic questions with specific gear and activities. As for any reseeding or restocking effort, evaluation of its effectiveness is essential.
Scallop enhancement is bringing to the fore policy issues about aquaculture and the wild fishery. Some local groups are using enhancement to involve fishermen in stewardship of the local resource. Enhancement techniques may prove useful to scallop aquaculturists. There is concern about the ultimate ownership of the scallops that grow from collected spat. A number of regulatory issues will need resolution.
Research priorities are to refine scallop spat collection methodologies (gear, oceanographic monitoring, seeding techniques and timing); create standard evaluation techniques for scallop spat collection and reseeding efforts; and study the socio-economic issues of governance, community capacity, and necessary new regulatory structure for enhancement and wild scallop management.
-
Monitoring and Assessment
DMR has not done an assessment of scallops in the inshore area and has very little data that could be used in a formal assessment. What emerged from the discussion was a recognition that statewide work may not be the best use of limited resources and that focus on specific areas, such as Cobscook Bay, which is the center of much of the scallop fishing activity now, could provide more useful information.
Enhancement could create a demand for a number of monitoring programs, including spawning, spat abundance, and currents. Experimenting with a local, collaborative approach emerged as a good strategy.
Research priorities are to do a Cobscook Bay scallop assessment, use spat bags to develop a spawning index for scallop assessment, and develop local scallop gonadal indices and local oceanographic monitoring.
Since the scallop research priority meeting, the DMR received funding through the Northeast Consortium to work on sea scallops. Dan Schick, who submitted the proposal, and a newly hired DMR scientist, Scott Feindel, have begun working with industry members on scallop enhancement experiments, and will initiate a port and sea sampling program this winter along with a fishery independent survey for scallops.
A copy of the research priorities can be found on the DMR web page at http://www.state.me.us/dmr/ or by contacting Naomi Petley, DMR Laboratory, PO Box 8, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575; call (207) 633-9525; or e-mail Naomi.Petley@state.me.us.
|
|
