33 



Figure 4-1.— U.S. American 

 lobster landings, 1940-90, and 

 the number of lobster traps 

 fished in Maine coastal waters 

 during that period. In 1990, 

 Maine produced 46% of the U.S. 

 landings of the species. 



30 



Landings Effort 



.■'■■■ 



1,500 £ 



I ' ' ' ' I 



2,600 



2,000 



o 

 o 

 o 



1,000 



- 500 







1940 1945 1950 1965 1960 1966 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 



. . . Surf Clam 

 and Ocean Quahog 



FMP of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Manage- 

 ment Council. The primary clam and qua- 

 hog management measure is a system of 

 individual transferable quotas (ITQ) allo- 

 cated on the basis of historical participa- 

 tion in the fisheries. The development of 

 this system is the first such allocation of 

 property rights for management of living 

 marine resources in U.S. waters. 



Atlantic surf clam landings increased 

 steadily from 1 1,400 t in 1960 to 43,600 t 

 in 1974. Subsequent years of overutiliza- 

 tion, combined with a large die-off along 

 the New Jersey coast in 1976, led to very 

 low stocks, and landings declined to 

 1 5,800 t in 1 979. Since 1 977, the FMP has 

 regulated total annual EEZ surf clam land- 

 ings (where most are caught) and has 

 addressed the problem of overcapitaliza- 

 tion (too many boats and gear) in the 

 fishery. Clams from good spawning sea- 

 sons in 1 976 and 1 977 off New Jersey and 



the Delmarva Peninsula now comprise the 

 bulk of the harvestable stocks. Under cur- 

 rent harvest rates in the EEZ, there are 

 enough surf clams to support current EEZ 

 landings of 24,000 t well into the 1990's. 



As surf clam populations collapsed in the 

 mid-1 970's, ocean quahog landings in- 

 creased rapidly to fill the need for pro- 

 cessed clam products. Landings increased 

 from 600 t in 1975 to the current level of 

 22,000 t. Ocean quahogs inhabit the Gulf 

 of Maine, Georges Bank, and the relatively 

 deep waters of the Mid-Atlantic continental 

 shelf. In the cooler waters of the Gulf of 

 Maine, they are found relatively near shore. 

 The species is extremely slow growing, and 

 quahogs over 100 years old are common 

 in the populations (particularly in the Mid- 

 Atlantic region). Current annual landings 

 have been maintained at less that 2% of the 

 estimated stock in view of its limited annual 

 productivity. 



Sea Scallop 



Historically, sea scallop landings have fluc- 

 tuated greatly in response to changes in 

 production and fishing effort, recruitment 

 variability, and changing effort patterns by 

 U.S. and Canadian fishermen (Fig. 4-2). 

 Good production in recent years brought 

 increased fishing effort and record U.S. 

 landings in 1990. Because scallops are 

 fished when young, yield is far below what 

 it could be if scallops were allowed to grow 

 more before harvest. This situation is 

 called "growth overfishing." 



Sea scallops are harvested on the conti- 

 nental shelf from the Virginia Capes to The 

 Hague Line (between the U.S. and Cana- 

 dian portions of Georges Bank), and in the 

 Gulf of Maine. Sea scallops are primarily 

 dredged, though small quantities are taken 

 with otter trawls and by divers (in the Gulf 

 of Maine). The Sea Scallop FMP of the 

 NEFMC regulates the fishery primarily by 

 maximum-meat-count regulations in- 

 tended to protect small scallops. 



