2006 Scallop Survey article (Dixie and Taylor county)

[Big Bend Brian]

In case you didn’t see the Gainesville Sun’s June 27th scallop article here’s the link and the article below. This report also indicates it’s likely to be a challenging scallop season.
Brian

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /1078/news

Scallops found at half population of last year

By KAREN VOYLES
Sun staff writer

State officials are predicting that when Florida's recreational scallop season opens on Saturday, enthusiasts will find that this year's crop is good but not great.

"There are patches that are supporting really beautiful scallops, but overall I wasn't very happy," said Bill Arnold, a research scientist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

Arnold's unhappiness was the result of what he found over the past week as he surveyed the 2006 crop off the Dixie and Taylor County coastlines.

"We got about 11 scallops on average per sample," Arnold said, "and that's about half of what we saw out there last year. In 2004, we had about 18 per sample and before that, we always had very good years - a rough average would be 50 to 100 per sample."

Surveys conducted by the institute earlier in June off the Citrus County coastline showed fewer scallops there as well - an average of 22 per sample compared with an average of 50 a year ago.

The surveys are conducted each year to help researchers determine what is going on in the populations of the shy mollusks that prefer life in the sea grass beds on the Gulf floor.

"There's a lot of natural variation among scallop population from year to year, but overall we saw that the sea grass beds were still very healthy so we know that the environment is still generally good," Arnold said. "We see these fluctuations in population from year to year, but what we are really looking for are the medium to long-term trends."

Florida once had a large commercial scallop fishery, but the native stocks were wiped out in some regions. Researchers have blamed water-quality issues in large part for the big decline in scallops statewide.

The annual census was instituted more than a decade ago to track the remaining population as a guide for future recreational harvesting policies. For example, when the scallop population rose significantly and remained high for a few years, the Citrus County-Homosassa area was re-opened to scalloping after being closed for several years.

The pre-season census is about the only method the state is using to determine how many scallops are available.

"We don't have a scheme to assess the recreational harvest," Arnold said. "There's no stamp or other recording method - you only have to possess a saltwater fishing license to take scallops. We do conduct some rough creel surveys and through those we find that most people do get their limit."

Henry Cabbage, a spokesman for the commission, said officers will be on the water this holiday weekend checking to make certain scallopers have their boating safety equipment, as well as a dive flag and that they are obeying the bag limits.

"The possession limits are two gallons of scallops in the shell or one pint of scallop meat per person," Cabbage said. "And, we want people to remember that there is a daily limit for each boat of 10 gallons of scallops in the shell or one-half gallon of scallop meat."