FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 83, NO. 4 



noting lobster behavior and the physical effect of the 

 drag on lobsters; carapace lengths (CL, back of eye 

 socket to posterior carapace margin) of fished 

 lobsters were measured. Tovv^ velocities, established 

 by engine rpm, were similar to commercial opera- 

 tions and tow duration was 5 min. 



1981 Study 



Dragging was conducted during 14-22 May and 

 27-31 July 1981. Four general areas (Fig. 3) were 

 surveyed in both periods. Scallops and lobsters were 

 known by fishermen to exist in areas A and A' but 

 scallop fishing had not occurred for several years; 

 five research tows were conducted in May and three 

 tows in July. Areas B and C were reported by 

 fishermen to be prime lobster ground where scallop 



fishing had occurred recently or was in progress dur- 

 ing the study; 30 research tows were conducted in 

 May and 25 tows in July. Tbw locations were ran- 

 domized within an area and the number per area was 

 arbitrarily assigned according to the apparent 

 distribution of commercial effort in the scallop 

 fishery. Bottom water temperatures averaged 8.8° 

 and 18.4°C in May and July, respectively. A four- 

 gang Gulf rock drag (Fig. 2) with 51 cm buckets was 

 used throughout the study. Scallop rings had 69-75 

 mm and 80-84 mm inside and outside diameters, 

 respectively. Lead ropes 30 m long were attached to 

 each end of the 2.36 m club stick at the back of the 

 drag to define an area behind the drag to be surveyed 

 by divers. Before the drag was dropped, the lines 

 were let out while the vessel was steaming or drift- 

 ing to establish an unfished control area for survey 



46 

 3 5' 



4 6° 

 30' 



4 6° 

 2 5' 



Figure 3.— Number of scallops fished/tow (average length = 97.5 m) by the gear in May in Egmont Bay, Northumberland 

 Strait, Gulf of St. Lawrence Identified areas are where both scallops and lobsters exist in commercial densities: A and 

 A' were areas where no scallop fishing had occurred for several years (= unfished control); B and C were areas where 

 scallop fishing had recently occurred or was in progress during the study. Substrate type is shown in Figure 1. 



578 



