 eorges
Bank, located off the New England coast has always
been prime scalloping grounds, but during the early
1990s' greatly reduced landings reflected the state
of what was considered a dangerously stressed fishery.
In 1994 the first restrictions on scallops were instituted,
crew limits, number of days allowed on the grounds,
area fished and size of scallops were all part of
the regulations. Restrictions only seemed to mildly
mitigate the decline of stocks.
The 1996 passage of the Sustainable
Fisheries Act mandated the complete closure of Georges
Bank to all fishing in order to protect Atlantic ground-fish
stocks, which had collapsed due to years of over-fishing.
Included in this moratorium was scallop dredging,
as the by-catch of cod and flounder in the scallop
fishery was considered a factor in the decline of
ground-fish.
In the year 2000 after much hearsay
evidence of population recovery, scallop fishermen
convinced NMFS to research scallop populations on
Georges Bank, it was shown that scallop populations
had rebounded to an extraordinary extent in a relatively
short period of time. Many scallop beds showed profligate
populations, with overpopulation and oxygen depletion
being the greatest threat to vitality. The short life
span and fecundity of the sea scallop coupled with
favorable ocean conditions had allowed the sea scallop
to replenish itself.
A plan proposed by the scallop industry
to reopen Georges Bank to scalloping has led to more
vigilant regulation of both the scallop stocks and
affected ground-fish stocks. Gear has been changed
in that shaker chains have been lightened to mitigate
bottom damage, escape routes for fish have been enlarged
and scallopers allow nets to lay fallow for several
minutes at the end of a tow in order to facilitate
escape by ground-fish. This has brought by-catch to
virtually nil. As well, each scallop boat must carry
a tracking device, which plots where they have dredged
and a NMFS observer to insure all regulations are
followed.
Since the reopening of scalloping in
the year 2000, higher catch results than have been
seen in 40 years have been reported. This biological
and economic success story I believe clearly speaks
out for a continued form of management which includes
rotating no-fishing zones, NMFS is considering this
form of management. If the scallop industry and NMFS
can encourage the use of less intrusive fishing gear
scalloping will be at a point were it can be considered
a well managed, sustainable and environmentally friendly
fishery.
Although scallop trawl gear has recently
been improved it is still the weak link in this fishery
from an environmental point of view. Traditionally
scallops are taken on a hard, rocky and diverse bottom.
In order to withstand the rigors of towing over the
hardest of bottoms the scallop dredge has developed
into a heavy framework of steel and chain towing a
steel mesh bag. Historically, the impact of this gear
on the seabed has not been taken into consideration,
and large, heavy dredges have resulted. The scallop
dredge, which weighs about a ton scrapes along the
bottom kicking scallops up into the mesh bag but also
knocking down everything in its path, homogenizing
the bottom.
Much of the blame for our depleted fisheries
is due to the success of technologies which gave no
thought to the future. We need to encourage the development
of environmentally friendly fishing methods such as
that being worked on at M.I.T. in conjunction with
Sea Grant. The project is developing a scallop dredge
design that uses hydrodynamic forces rather than weight
to keep the gear on the bottom. The prototype dredge
is described as having "multiple short chain sweeps,
rather than a single, highly-loaded sweep, to improve
bottom tending in the absence of the normal cutting
bar" that means the dredge will bounce over rather
than smash through fisheries habitat.
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