Abstract
Experimental scallop fishing was carried out using towed commercial dredges on
sediments deposited by unattached coralline algae in order to quantify their sensitivity
to damage from current fishing practices. These biogenic sediments are patchily
distributed in European coastal waters (to -30 m depth around the UK and to -120 m in
the Mediterranean) and are of international conservation importance. This paper
describes the short and long-term effects of scallop dredging on previously
unfished and fished areas of biogenic algal sediment in SW Scotland. Sediment cores
taken biannually from 1994-99 were used to assess live coralline abundance on
marked test
and control plots. Living corallines had <3% cover at a fished site and
experimental dredging had no discernible effect on their abundance. Dense
populations of live coralline thalli (~20% cover) were located on a previously
unfished ground. Although coralline cover remained high in control plots on the
unfished site, experimental fishing led to ~ 70% reduction in live corallines on test
plots with no signs of recovery over the subsequent 5 years.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 9-24 |
| Number of pages | 0 |
| Journal | Impact of trawl fishing on benthic communities. ICRAM |
| Volume | 0 |
| Issue number | 0 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2000 |
| Event | Impact of trawl fishing on benthic communities - Rome Duration: 19 Nov 1999 → 19 Nov 1999 |