THE WHELK DREDGE FISHERY OF DELAWARE

Abstract

Abstract The status of the Delaware whelk dredge fishery was assessed from state landings reports and from data collected by an onboard observer. Mean annual whelk landings for 1994 to 2000 were 18.5 mt of meats and increased to 241.6 mt for the period 2001 to 2004. Annual landings for 2001 to 2003 were 88% to 119% of the sum of dredge and trawl fishery landings reported by the remaining states on the United States Atlantic coast. Although knobbed whelks, Busycon carica, are landed throughout the year, 88% of pooled monthly landings for 1994 to 2004 were taken between March and June inclusive. Eleven observer cruises were conducted March to June 2004. Total estimated daily take of legal (length ≥127 mm) knobbed whelks ranged from to 197–3,710 organisms. Expected catch rates were estimated at 83.2 legal knobbed whelks per hour per meter of dredge width. Dredges were generally towed parallel to bathymetric contours and adjacent to shoal features in 2–20 m depths. Estimates of the area of bottom dredged on e...