Hostname: page-component-788cddb947-xdx58 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-13T18:07:07.037Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Benthic Communities Associated With a Heavily Fished Scallop Ground in the English Channel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

M.J. Kaiser ,
P.J. Armstrong ,
P.J. Dare  and
R.P. Flatt
M.J. Kaiser
Affiliation:
School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales Bangor, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd, LL59 5EY.
P.J. Armstrong
Affiliation:
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Conwy Laboratory, Conwy, LL32 8UB.
P.J. Dare
Affiliation:
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Conwy Laboratory, Conwy, LL32 8UB.
R.P. Flatt
Affiliation:
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory, Lowestoft, NR33 OHT
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

A survey of benthic communities found in a heavily fished scallop ground was undertaken in July 1993. Two main faunal assemblages were identified from samples obtained with fine-meshed scallop dredges, which were grouped either in gravelly sand sediments or sandy sediment, which was generally furthest offshore in deeper water. A third assemblage was found in either sandy or gravelly muddy sand sediments. The highest abundance of small and large size-classes of scallops were associated with the assemblage containing the greatest number of species and individuals in sandy sediments. This assemblage had the greatest biomass of emergent fauna such as hydroids and Alcyonium digitatum. Data acquired from a RoxAnn™ acoustic signal processor were able to differentiate between the substratum or biotopes associated with the greatest abundance of scallops. This may provide a useful tool for refining surveys of commercial stocks or mapping suitable habitats.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 78 , Issue 4 , November 1998 , pp. 1045 - 1059
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, E.J., 1899. On the fauna and bottom deposits near the thirty-fathom line from the Eddystone to Start Point. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 5, 365–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Auster, P.J. et al., 1996. The impacts of mobile fishing gear on seafloor habitats in the Gulf of Maine (northwest Atlantic): implications for conservation of fish populations. Reviews in Fisheries Science, 4, 185–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergman, M.J.N. & Hup, M., 1992. Direct effects of beamtrawling on macrofauna in a sandy sediment in the southern North Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 49, 5–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradstock, M. & Gordon, D.P., 1983. Coral-like bryozoan growths in Tasman Bay, and their protection to conserve local fish stocks. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 17, 159–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, J.B. & Kain, J.M., 1971. Measurement of the physical and chemical environment. In Methods for the study of marine benthos (ed. N.A., Holme and A.D., McIntyre), pp. 30–58. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. [IBP Handbook no. 16.]Google Scholar
Caddy, J.F., 1973. Underwater observation on tracks of dredges and trawls and some effects of dredging on a scallop ground. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 30, 173–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, K.R., 1993. Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Australian Journal of Ecology, 18, 117–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, K.R. & Warwick, R.M., 1994. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Report. Natural Environmental Research Council.Google Scholar
Currie, D.R. & Parry, G.D., 1996. Effects of scallop dredging on a soft sediment community: a large-scale experimental study. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 134, 131–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dayton, P.K., Thrush, S.F., Agardy, M.T. & Hofman, R.J., 1995. Environmental effects of marine fishing. Aquatic Conservation, 5, 205–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eleftheriou, A. & Robertson, M.R., 1992. The effects of experimental scallop dredging on the fauna and physical environment of a shallow sandy community. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 30, 289–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, E., 1923. Animal communities of the level sea-bottom in the waters adjacent to Plymouth. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 13, 164—224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenstreet, S.P.R. & Hall, S.J., 1996. Fishing and ground-fish assemblage structure in the north-western North Sea: an analysis of long-term and spatial trends. Journal of Animal Ecology, 65, 577–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groot, S.J. De, 1984. The impact of bottom trawling on benthic fauna of the North Sea. Ocean Management, 10, 21–36.Google Scholar
Hill, A.S., Brand, A.R., Wilson, U.A.W., Veale, L.O. & Hawkins, S.J., 1996. Estimation of by-catch, composition and numbers of by-catch animals killed annually on Manx scallop fishing grounds. In Aquatic predators and their prey (ed. S.P.R., Greenstreet and M.L., Tasker), pp. 111–115. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publishers.Google Scholar
Holme, N.A., 1953. The biomass of the bottom fauna in the English Channel off Plymouth. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 32, 1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holme, N.A., 1961. The bottom fauna of the English Channel. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 41, 397–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holme, N.A., 1966. The bottom fauna of the English Channel. Part II. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 46, 401–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holme, N.A., 1983. Fluctuations in the benthos of the western English Channel. In Fluctuation and succession in marine ecosystems. Proceedings of the 17th European Marine Biology Symposium, Brest, 1982 (ed. L., Cabioch et al.), pp. 121–124. Paris: Gauthier-Villars. [Oceanologica Acta, special volume.]Google Scholar
Holme, N.A., 1984. Fluctuations of Ophiothrix fragilis in the western English Channel. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 64, 351–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howson, C.M., ed., 1987. Directory of the British marine fauna and flora. A coded checklist of the marine fauna and flora of the British Isles and its surrounding seas. Ross-on-Wye: Marine Conservation Society.Google Scholar
Kaiser, M.J. et al., 1996. An estimate of fishing gear disturbance intensities in the Irish Sea: a comparison of beam trawling and scallop dredging. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 6, 269–285.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaiser, M.J. et al., 1998. Changes in megafaunal benthic communities in different habitats after trawling disturbance. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaiser, M.J. & Spencer, B.E., 1996. The effects of beam trawl disturbance on infaunal communities in different habitats. Journal of Animal Ecology, 65, 348–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langton, R.W. & Robinson, W.E., 1990. Faunal associations on scallop grounds in the western Gulf of Maine. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 144, 157–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, D.S., Little, M., Eno, N.C. & Hiscock, K., 1996. Towards assessing the sensitivity of benthic species and biotopes in relation to fishing activities. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 6, 257–268.3.0.CO;2-7>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magorrian, B.H., Service, M. & Clarke, W., 1995. An acoustic bottom classification survey of Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 75, 987–992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messieh, S.N., Rowell, T.W., Peer, D.L. & Cranford, P.J., 1991. The effects of trawling, dredging and ocean dumping on the eastern Canadian continental shelf seabed. Continental Shelf Research, 11, 1237–1263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pruvot, G., 1897. Essai sur les fonds et la faune de la Manche occidentale (côte de Bretagne) comparés àn ceux du Golfe du Lion. Archives Zoologie Expérimentatione Générate, 3, 511–617.Google Scholar
Sainsbury, K.J., 1987. Assessment and management of the demersal fishery on the continental shelf of northwestern Australia. In Tropical snappers and groupers – biology and fisheries management (ed. J.J., Polovina and S., Ralston), pp. 465–503. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Sotheran, I.S., Foster-Smith, R.L. & Davies, J., 1997. Mapping of marine benthic habitats using image processing techniques within a raster-based geographic information system. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 44, supplement A, 25–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thrush, S.F., Hewitt, J.E., Cummings, V.J. & Dayton, P.K., 1995. The impact of habitat disturbance by scallop dredging on marine benthic communities: what can be predicted from the results of experiments? Marine Ecology Progress Series, 129, 141–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tupper, M. & Boutilier, R.G., 1995. Effects of habitat on settlement, growth, and postsettlement survival of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Canadian journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 52, 1834–1841.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dolah, R., Wendt, P. & Nicholsan, N., 1987. Effects of a research trawl on a hard-bottom assemblage of sponges and corals. Fisheries Research, 5, 39–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walters, C.J. & Juanes, F., 1993. Recruitment limitation as a consequence of natural selection for use of restricted feeding habitats and predation risk taking by juvenile fishes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 50, 2058–2070.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, R.M. & Clarke, K.R., 1991. A comparison of methods for analysing changes in benthic community structure. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 71, 225–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar