Scallop dredge5/18/2023 Sheehan is now selling a scallop drag, or dredge, that has been in use in Scotland for several years. in Pembroke in Washington County, believes he’s found a safer, more fuel efficient, and less environmentally damaging way to harvest scallops. Tim Sheehan, who with his wife operates Gulf of Maine Inc. Inevitably, some of the targeted beds are destroyed by the less-than-surgical nature of the process. Heavy chains or steel hardware scrape across the bottom, tossing the scallop shells upward, where they are caught in a bag. The traditional way of harvesting scallops, the high-value seafood now in season, uses a dredge, or drag. It’s the difference between a snowplow and a rake. Grants and Scholarships Portal – Apply Here.The programme encourages sustainable and innovative ideas to bring about seafood security and new partnerships across seafood and technology sectors. The project was funded with £250,000 by the UK Seafood Innovation Fund, administered by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He added: “However, to be truly effective, potential technical interventions such as these have to be considered alongside effective fisheries regulatory systems that promote harvesting efficiency and appropriate controls at sea.” Michel Kaiser, who co-wrote the paper and is a professor of fisheries conservation, said the study shows “simple, practical modifications have significant potential in reducing impacts on target stocks and the environment in the scallop dredging sector”. She added: “Our study suggests that skid dredges are a promising start to developing more environmentally sound fishing gear that is also profitable economically for the industry, yielding a higher number of scallops and reducing replacement costs of belly bags from excessive wear and tear on the seabed.” She said adopting technical gear changes, such as the skid dredges, would be “a big step forward in the evolution of sustainable management and lower impact of scallop dredging”. Scientists said using the metal skids may even help lower the Co2 emissions created when scallop dredging if an alternative material to steel was used to construct the bags.ĭr Marija Sciberras, assistant professor in fisheries at Heriot-Watt University, led the study. They said further modifications to the kit, such as increasing the size of the metal rings, along with implementation of skids could reduce this bycatch further.ĭue to the metal skids adding weight to the boats, the commercial fisheries involved in the trials closely monitored the amount of fuel consumed during each expedition.īut they reported no changes between the two dredge types, likely due to the reduction in drag during travel. The research also discovered this slight alteration to the gear increased the catch of king scallops by an average of 15%.īycatch – fish or other animals that fishermen do not want such as undersized scallops, crabs and starfish – which is often repeatedly caught and returned to the sea in commercial expeditions was more variable, scientists found. They found the skid, which lifts the metal bags a mere 10cm off the seabed, helped reduce damage to bottom-dwelling species and fauna.
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