Assessment of the methods of recreational crab fishing 
by type of platform and month is shown in Table 6. 
Crabbers fishing in shallow water by wading or boat- 
ing preferred to visually search and capture crabs with a 
dip net (93.6%). Since the crabs frequent shallow water 
and were widely distributed, availability was virtually 
assured at all access sites. A trap was preferred by those 
fishermen on extension and shoreline platforms (65.1%). 
The crab fishing effort by trapping may be underes- 
timated, however, for many traps are fished almost con- 
tinuously from private docks. 
Scallop Fishing Effort 
The bay scallop, Pecten irradians, supported a sub- 
stantial recreational fishery in 1973. That fishery at- 
tracted 2.8% of the estimated effort for all fisheries and 
was third in importance to recreational fishermen after 
finfish and crabs. 
Unlike finfish and crabs, scallops were limited in dis- 
tribution to lower St. Andrew Bay and Kast Pass. Ac- 
cording to the distribution of fishing effort they were 
found in abundance only in subareas 44, 45, and 50-53. 
ST. ANDREW BAY 
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Figure 9.—Estimated average daily instantaneous numbers of re- 
creational scallop fishermen (dark) and persons (light) by areas, 
weekdays (W), and weekend-days (E) each month in 1973. None was 
observed in North, West, and East Bays. 
An occasional scallop fisherman was seen in other sub- 
areas of St. Andrew Bay; none were seen in North, West, 
or East Bay. While scallops apparently reside in grass 
beds all year (Gutsell 1931), the annual harvest began in 
early May and extended through September. Florida 
State law permits taking of scallops by hand or dredge 
from 1 June through 15 October and only by hand on 
other days. 
The estimated recreational scallop fishing effort is 
shown in Figure 9 by areas on weekdays and weekend- 
days each month in 1973. The estimated effort includes 
all methods of fishing from all platforms. 
Only two platforms were used in this fishery, private 
boats and water (Figs. 10, 11). Private boats served 
primarily as a means of transport to scallop grounds. 
Most fishermen entered the water and fished by wading, 
snorkeling, and scuba diving. Those that used water as 
the primary platform entered from shore. 
Most fishermen preferred to search for scallops and 
catch them by hand (Table 7). Snorkel and scuba equip- 
ment extended the effort to considerable depth. Com- 
paratively few fishermen searched for scallops while 
standing in a boat or by wading and dip netting them ina 
manner similar to crab fishing. A dredge was fished oc- 
casionally from private motorboats. 
PRIVATE BOATS 90.7% 
PERCENT 
WATER 9.3% 
M AM JP Ar SO; FIN aD 
Figure 10.—Percentage distribution of the estimated average daily 
instantaneous numbers of recreational scallop fishermen in all areas 
by type of platform used each month in 1973. 
