side view 



FIGURE 3. --TRAP USED TO CATCH THE CHANNELED WHELK. 



grower in the Chatham area who markets only 

 about 2,000 bushels a year. 



TRAPPING 



Oyster Pond River fishermen have 

 used wooden traps of various designs to 

 catch whelks. The efficiency of these traps 

 was unknown, so in the spring of 1957, the 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries began to 

 test several types. The shapes of the 

 traps ranged from sides perpendicular to 

 the base to sides sloping towards the cen- 

 ter; heights ranged from 6 to 24 inches; and 

 bases ranged from 18 x 18 inches to 4 x 4 

 feet. The author considers the one shown 

 in figure 3 to be the most effective of the 

 traps tested. 



Trap Construction 



Over-all dimensions of the trap are 

 24 inches x 18 inches x 18 inches with sides 

 perpendicular to the base and ends sloped. 

 The framing is made of No. 2 grade pine 1 

 inch X 4 inches and 1 inch x 8 inches, plus 

 a 2-inch brace across the bottom and two 



pieces of No. 16 guage wire across the top. 

 The frame is covered with 1-inch-mesh 

 galvanized chicken wire, 18 inches in width. 

 A piece of 16-gauge wire is woven around 

 the entrance to prevent the trapper's hand 

 from being cut on jagged ends of chicken 

 wire when removing the catch. Four bricks 

 are used to sink the trap to the bottom. A 

 buoy is fastened to each trap for the pur- 

 pose of locating and hauling it. 



Traps higher than 8 inches seemed to 

 discourage snails from crawling up to the 

 opening in the top. Traps lower than 8 

 inches decreased the holding capacity; occa- 

 sionally they became so crowded with snails 

 that some were unable to enter. The width 

 of 18 inches was selected because chicken 

 wire is available in this size and could be 

 tacked to the frame without trimming. Chick- 

 en wire 24 inches in width is also available 

 on the market but was considered impracticcd 

 because it would require a larger trap jLnd 

 increase the cost of construction. 



The cost of building 12 traps used 

 in the experiments was $45.38. Materials 

 and labor costs follow: 



