PRIVATE BOATS 
DAILY AVERAGE 
Figure 11.—Estimated average daily instantaneous numbers of pri- 
vate boats used for recreational scallop fishing in all areas on week- 
days (W) and weekend-days (E) each month in 1973. 
Table 7.—Percentage distribution of recreational scallop fishing effort 
by methods of fishing, areas, and platforms in 1973 
Private boats 
St. Andrew Coastal 
Bay waters 
Water 
Coastal 
waters 
All 
areas 
St. Andrew 
Bay 
Method $ $ 
Hands 89.2 26.7 86.0 84.1 100.0 89.1 
Dredge 9.70 TESS} 13.0 0 0 0 
Dip net ila 0 1.0 1549: 0 10.9 
- 
Oyster Fishing Effort 
The oyster fishery attracted 1.4% of the estimated 
recreational fishing effort and was fourth in importance 
to recreational fishermen after finfish, crabs, and 
scallops. Of that effort, 71.8% occurred in East Bay, 
18.7% in North and West Bays, and 9.5% in St. Andrew 
Bay. None occurred in coastal waters. 
In East Bay, subareas 92 and 94 supported most of the 
oystering effort, although numerous oyster beds are 
located in the bay and in most bayous. Subarea 12 and 
adjoining bayous, subarea 19 and adjoining bay area, 
and subarea 30 and adjoining bay area were popular oys- 
ter grounds in North and West Bays. Virtually all 
recreational oystering in St. Andrew Bay was observed in 
subareas 59 and 60. 
The estimated recreational oyster fishing effort is 
shown in Figure 12 by areas, weekdays, and weekend- 
days each month in 1973. The taking of oysters is 
prohibited by law in June, July, and August. 
Oyster fishing was done primarily from private boats 
as the more productive beds were inaccessible from fixed 
platforms. During periods of very low tide, exposed oys- 
ters were harvested in limited numbers from shore or by 
wading. Assessment of the recreational oystering effort 
by type of platform is shown in Figure 13 and the num- 
ber of private boats in Figure 14. 
Most of the oysters were harvested with tongs or rakes 
from boats anchored over oyster beds (Table 8). In shal- 
11 
NORTH AND WEST BAYS 
AVERAGE 
DAILY 
EAST BAY 
DAILY AVERAGE 
ST. ANDREW BAY 
DAILY AVERAGE 
Figure 12.—Estimated average daily instantaneous numbers of re- 
creational oyster fishermen (dark) and persons (light) by areas, 
weekdays (W), and weekend-days (E) each month in 1973. None was 
observed in coastal waters. 
low water and intertidal zone the oysters were simply 
gathered by hand or dip net. 
Shrimp Fishing Effort 
From the results of this survey, shrimp was ranked 
fifth and least important of the daytime recreational 
fisheries in the St. Andrew Bay system and adjacent 
coastal waters in 1973. That effort, composed 0.2% of the 
