boats from Maine ports outside the 

 area. As catches decrease, the outside 

 boats leave the area and the fishery 

 is carried on by small, locally owned 

 and operated boats. The number of 



local, licensed scallop boats during 

 the past decade has averaged 4. Land- 

 ings from both pools during recent 

 years are characteristic of the abun- 

 dance fluctuations (table 3). 



Table 3. — Landings of sea scallops and number of local licensed sea-scallop boats 



in Quoddy Region, l^g-S? 



Composition of Catch 



During the 1957-58 season 212 scal- 

 lops obtained from 2 days of dragging 

 in Passamaquoddy Bay were studied 

 for age and growth (tables 4 and 5). 

 The resulting information provided an 

 estimate of age and growth of scallops 

 in the area. This sampling of the com- 

 mercial catch indicates that the fishery 

 has been supported by rather good 

 survival of some four or five year 

 classes. Greatly decreased landings 

 in 1958 indicate that the available 

 supply has been fairly well fished 

 out, and landings will continue to be 

 low until a new stock enters the fish- 

 ery. 



Tagging studies (fig. 4) on possible 

 migratory activity have shown that 

 there is no appreciable migration of 

 adult scallops in Penobscot Bay, 

 Maine's largest and most intensively 

 fished scallop area (Baird, 1954a). 

 The size distribution in table 4 is 



Table 4. — Comparative size distribu- 

 tions of sea scallops in commercial 

 catches from Passamaquoddy and 

 Penobscot Bays 



