Performance of the New England Hydraulic Dredge for the Harvest Of'stimpson~Surf Clams
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PERFORMANCE OF THE NEW ENGLAND HYDRAULIC DREDGE FOR THE HARVEST OF'STIMPSON~SURF CLAMS Inv d Experimental Biology Division*. Deparhnent of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Maurice Lamontagne Instihite 850 route de la Mer f O00 Mont-Joli (~uébec) G5H 324 Canadian Industry Report of isheries and Aquatic Sciences 235 ? nadian Industry Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences canaain the ~e?iaIts:Bf ramh and develotrment iradustq fof MkF irnmedia~elar Iutuw1appdkashn. They are da.r.ected pfimarbly tmard indiziduak .h $ha primary and secondary çccrors of the fishing and marine mduaries. ?i,o ratlrMhn k phced on sulbjmt mcta and the series reflects the broad inoemrs and p~2ek5&oh Department d Fisher& and Oceans. aamely. fishiesad aqwticsc+awe~,. .' 1t@u~rr5reprts m. be cimed & full pnsblicatbns. The cornkt citatian aowars . abri the abatracr of each report. Eacb rekl is a&rrxad in Awair %ie.nr& ifid . technical publicatio . Sumber;l-9li e lndustrial Devel- opsnent BranCh. 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Le nom actuel de la'série a été établi lors de la parution du numéro 1 1 1. Les rapports à l'industrie sont produits à ~'échclon.ré~ional.mais nurnérotis a * I'ichelon national. Les demandes de rapports sqront satisfaites par Rtablissement auteur dont le nom figure sur la couverture et la page du titre. Les rapports épuisés .. *ont fm Canadian Industry Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 23 5 PERFORMANCE OF THE NEW ENGLAND HYDRAULIC DREDGE FOR THE HARVEST OF STIMP SONS SURF CLAMS (Mactronzerispolynynza) J. Lambert and P. Goudreau Invertebrate and Experimental Biology Division Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Maurice Lamontagne Institute 850, route de la Mer P.O. Box 1000 Mont-Joli (Québec) G5H 324 O Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada 1996 Cat. no. Fs-97-141235 E ISSN 0706-3694 Correct citation for this publication: Lambert. J. and P. Goudreau. 1996. Performance of the New England hydraulic dredge for the harvest of Stimpson's surf clams (Macfromerispolyzyma). Can. Ind. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 235: vii + 28 p. iii TABLE OF CONTF!NTS LIST OF TABLES .....................................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES.. ...................................................................................................................v AB STRACT............................................................................................................................... vi .. RÉsUMÉ ..................................................................................................................................VII INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 1 METHOD S .................................................................................................................................1 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. ................................................................................................ .3 CONCLUSIONS .........................................................................................................................7 ACKNO WLEDGMENT S ...........................................................................................................8 REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................................8 ANNEX 1 .................................................................................................................................23 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Site and tow characteristics of samplings made by the Brigitte Susan in 1993...................................................................................................................... 9 Table 2. Site and tow characteristics of samplings made by the NSC Cala?zusII in 1994.................................................................................................................... 10 Table 3. Abundances of the principal mollusc species captured by the dredge or collected by the divers in 1993. ............................................................................ 1 1 Table 4. Abundances of the principal mollusc species captured by the dredge or collected by the divers in 1994. ............................................................................ 12 Table 5. Number of broken and intact individuals collected by divers in 1993. ................... 13 Table 6. Number of broken and intact individuals collected by divers in 1994. ................... 14 Table 7. Proportion of Stimpson's surf clams captured by the dredge that were broken in 1993. ................................................................................................... 15 Table 8. Proportion of Stimpson's surf clams captured by the dredge that were broken in 1994.................................................................................................. 15 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. New England type hydraulic dredge ....................................................................16 Figure 2. Efficiency of the hydraulic dredge (a) in 1993 on the Brigtte Susan and (b) in 1994 on the NSC Calanus II .....................................................................17 Figure 3. Average efficiency of the hydraulic dredge for the collection of other species of bivalve molluscs during the sampling periods in 1993 on the Brigitte Susan and in 1994 on the NSC Calanus II. ............................................ .18 Figure 4. Size structure, by 3 mm classes, of Stimpson's surf clams in 1993 (a) captured by the dredge, (b) not captured and collected by divers inside the traces, and (c) not captured and collected by divers.outside the traces. ................ 19 Figure 5. Size structure, by 3 mm classes, of Stimpson's surf clams in 1993 (a) captured by the dredge with the mesh liner (mesh size 19 mm), and (b) not captured and collected inside the traces by divers. ......................................... 20 Figure 6. Size structure, by 3 mm classes, of Stimpson's surf clams in 1994 (a) captured by the dredge, (b) not captured and collected inside the traces by divers, and (c) not captured and collected by divers outside the traces. ................ ~13 Figure 7. Percentages of Stimpson's surf clams, intact or broken, that were captured by the dredge or collected by divers in (a) 1993 or (b) 1994. ............................... 22 vi AB STRACT Lambert, J. and P. Goudreau. 1996. Performance of the New England hydraulic dredge for the harvest of Stirnpson's surf clams (Mactromerispolynyma). Can. Ind. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 23 5: W + 28 p. The New England hydraulic dredge has been used recently in the commercial harvest of Stimpson's surf clams (Mactronzerispolynyma) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We undertook a study to determine the harvesting efficiency of this fishing gear and its imrnediate impact on the mollusc populations. The study was carried out in two parts: the first part, in 1993, took place aboard a commercial clarnrning boat. The second, in 1994, was conducted aboard a research vesse1 of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The sampling of each station was conducted with a hydraulic dredge and the assistance of a professional dive team. For both parts of the study, Stimpson's surf clams that were large enough to be retained in the dredge's bucket were harvested with an efficiency of over 90%. Of the clams remaining on the bottom, almost two-thirds were damaged by the dredge. A small percentage of other molluscs species that were not harvested were also damaged. More than 20% of the clams harvested by the dredge showed signs of damage. Clams smaller than 66 mm in length were rare on the study sites, thus it was not possible to assess gear selectivity or the