Young Scallops Dying

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31061, 17 May 1966, Page 14

Young Scallops Dying

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 16. It would be at least four years before Tasman Bay scallops were again available for commercial fishing, a Marine Department official said today. The main reason for the Tasman Bay decline was that no young scallops had been surviving there for the last six years. “The scallops are spawning each year, but the young scallops are dying before they are an inch long,” he said. The reason for the scallops’

deadi was not fully understood, but was due to unfavourable environmental conditions. There were still enough scallops left in Tasman Bay to replenish the area once sea conditions improved. “There is no indication when this might be, however. When this does occur, it will still take another four years before the scallops grow to a commercial size and become fishable again,” he said.

“A similar lack of young scallops has occurred in the past in Tasmania where there have been periods of up to eight years with no survival of young scallops.” The Marine Department had surveyed the Tasman Bay field in 1964. 1965. and this year, said the spokesman. “The decline in the numbers of scallops was observed and the fishermen of Tasman Bay were advised in 1964 that sticks would become exhausted. “There has only been one major commercial bed of the shellfish in Tasman Bay. Originally, before commercial fishing, it extended over 13 square miles in the centre of the bay.” A smaller bed of scallops

also existed near Pepin Island.

“Both these beds are now fished out, and there are very few scallops left in these areas. There are also no new scallops beds of commercial value in Tasman Bay,” he said.