Document Type

Report

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

VIMS Department/Program

Marine Advisory Program (MAP)

Publication Date

2021

Series

VIMS marine resource report ; no. 2021-07; Virginia Sea Grant VSG-21-05

Abstract

In 2014 during the 16th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration, representatives from states along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Georgia discussed various strategies for management of the channeled whelk fishery. The purpose of that meeting was to initiate a collaborative effort among industry, academia, and regulatory agencies to address concerns related to the channeled whelk resource and to provide guidelines for the development of a sustainable whelk fishery along the U.S. Atlantic coast (Fisher 2015a). This was the first documented attempt to bring state managers together to address inconsistencies involved with what is known about channeled whelk biology and how the fishery is currently being managed. The session provided an extensive review on what biological information needs to be collected to properly assess current management regulations in whelk-producing states. However, by the end of 2020, many of the issues that were identified during the 2014 conference were still unresolved. (....)

This document is a compilation of biological, economic, and management information to provide support for whelk resource managers responsible for the whelk resource in each jurisdiction or individual state. The agreed upon goal of working group participants is to protect this valuable fishery from over-exploitation and the economic boom and bust cycles observed in other whelk fisheries. This report serves as a medium for documenting and facilitating conversations among scientists, state agencies, and industry members; and as such should be considered a living document.

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