Document Type

Article

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publication Date

2008

Journal

Journal Of Shellfish Research

Volume

27

Issue

2

First Page

265

Last Page

271

Abstract

A size-selectivity curve was constructed to characterize the performance of the New Bedford style Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus, Gmelin 1791) dredge when it is configured to meet the requirements of Amendment #10 to the Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The curve was generated using the SELECT model on catch-at-length data, obtained by simultaneously towing a New Bedford style dredge and a nonselective National Marine Fisheries Service sea scallop survey dredge from commercial scallop vessels. Data were collected during three cruises in the Northwest Atlantic between 2005 and 2006. The resultant selectivity curve yielded a 50% retention length of 100.1 mm, a selection range of 23.6 mm, and a value of 0.77 for the efficiency of the commercial dredge relative to the survey dredge. A length of 100.1 mm corresponds to a meat weight of 17.2 g in Georges Bank and 16.8 g in the mid-Atlantic. These results can assist fisheries managers with stock assessments, fishing mortality estimates, and the interpretation of catch data from resource surveys. Additionally, the curve can be used as a baseline to evaluate the effect of future changes to sea scallop dredge configuration.

DOI

10.2983/0730-8000(2008)27[265:SOTNAS]2.0.CO;2

Keywords

Size-Selectivity; Placopecten Magellanicus; Sea Scallop; Fisheries; Dredge

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

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