Scallop Dredging in the New York Bight: Substrate Changes and Associated Recovery Rates

Abstract

Side scan sonar images and drop camera video tapes were accomplished along a one nautical mile experimental transect which was dredged by a commercial scallop vessel and on a one nautical mile control transect where no dredging was performed. Both the side scan images and the drop camera video tapes indicated seabed differences before and after dredging on the experimental transect and no changes on the control transect. After three months (April-August) the experimental transect was indistinguishable from either the control transect or the pre-dredge experimental transect This experiment was replicated for a six-week period between observations (November-December). This shorter time interval resulted in the experimental transect being almost back to its pre-dredge condition. Biological data and grain size information are being analyzed and are expected to quantitatively support our visual conclusions.