G BIOODWOR* 

 a SANDWORT 



S O N D 



Figure 2. — Bloodworm and sandworm landings in numbers reported monthly 

 for the period 1965-76. 



it became evident that few dealers were purchasing large quantities 

 of worms in October and the majority of our sampling trips during 

 that month yielded no information at all. 



Primary Sampling Unit 



All daylight low tide periods occurring between one-half hour 

 before sunrise and sunset during the months of April through Sep- 

 tember were listed and designated as the primary sampling unit. 

 The time of sunrise and sunset at lat. 44°16'N, long. 68°38'W (a 

 point near Blue Hill, Maine, that is halfway between the extreme 

 dealer sampling locations of Wiscasset and Jonesport) was 

 obtained from the Nautical Almanac Office of the U.S. Naval 

 Observatory in Washington, D.C. Low tide periods were recorded 

 for Portland, Maine (U.S. Department of Commerce 1973-76). Six 

 randomly selected daylight low tide periods were chosen for sam- 

 pling during any one month. 



Secondary Sampling Units 



All marine worm dealers who purchase their worms continually 

 from 5 or more diggers during any given month were listed and de- 



signated as the secondary sampling units. A restriction of at least 5 

 diggers/dealer was necessary in order to eliminate a number of 

 worm dealers (6 during 1976) in the western portion of the state 

 who operated bait and tackle shops or who supplied marine worms 

 to party boats and purchased their worms occasionally from 1 to 3 

 diggers. Marginal dealers, who might be buying continually from 4 

 diggers one month and 5 diggers the following month, were con- 

 tacted monthly during the sampling period to determine whether or 

 not they should be included as secondary sampling units. A dealer 

 code number consisting of a county and number was assigned to 

 each qualified dealer (Fig. 3). 



Digger Interview 



Marine worm diggers were interviewed as they delivered their 

 catches to the dealer. It was often necessary to fractionally inter- 

 view and sample the diggers (sample every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th 

 digger) instead of sampling every digger that approached the dealer 

 buying location because of the large numbers of diggers involved, 

 and their grouped arrivals during one or two predominant periods 

 after low water (an early arrival period for sandworm diggers and a 

 later arrival period for bloodworm diggers). 



