Commercial 



15- 



O 

 * 



a 



Non- 

 commercial 



X :12,09cm 

 SE: .19 

 N : 164 



BLOODWOR/AS 



X 



J Commercial 

 X 321.95 cm 



SE: .33 

 N: 166 



^_ 



10 15 20 25 30 35 40 



LENGTH 



510 

 z 



10 







(B) 

 SANDWORTS 



□ n 



on-Commercial 



X = 1761 cm 



SE: 41 

 N : 98 



J 



IN 



X :28.18 cm 

 SE: 66 

 N : 66 



n r 



K 



j. 



nJ 



10 



20 25 



LENGTH 



SANDWORMS 



40 



45 



a 



Non-Commercial 



X : 1396 cm 

 SE: 39 

 N = 77 



a 



.ommeraal 



JLE. 



X : 2638 cm 

 SE: 67 

 r-,N : 60 



s 



1 



u 



15 20 25 30 35 40 45 



I CKI/-.TU 



Figure 6. — Assorted bloodworms and sandworms culled into commercial and 

 non-commercial sizes by four dealers in western Maine. (A) Bloodworms 

 (March 1966), (B) sandworms (August 1966) 



Monthly and combined 6-mo values for catch in numbers/digger 

 tide and catch in numbers/digger hour recorded in Tables 12 and 13 

 are mean values derived from samples collected during all low tide 

 amplitudes. It is generally known by marine worm diggers and 

 dealers that the number of worms dug/tide fluctuates with varia- 

 tions in low tide amplitudes. During the early 1950s, marine biolo- 

 gists in Maine observed that a + 1 .0 ft low tide reduced the take of 

 marine worms an average of 30% compared with a 0.0 low tide 

 (Dow 1969). 



The catch in numbers/digger hour for 6 mo combined blood- 

 worm data (Table 12) varied between 193 ± 6 and 233 + 6. Ganaros 

 (footnote 4) reported that the catch/hour of commercial-sized 

 bloodworms varied between 150 and 200. It is quite possible, how- 

 ever, that these lower catch/effort figures reported by Ganaros 

 (footnote 4) resulted from the fact that larger bloodworms were 

 demanded by the commercial market during 1951. Estimates of 

 commercial bloodworm catch/hour have also been reported from 

 the Marsh River (118-293 bloodworms/h) and Montsweag Bay 



(10-450 bloodworms/h) in the vicinity of Wiscasset, Maine, by 

 Dean and Ewart. M The catch in numbers/digger tide for 6 mo com- 

 bined bloodworm data (Table 12) varied between 536 ±36 and 

 662+26. Sandrof (1946) reported that bloodworm diggers dug 

 approximately 350 commercial-sized bloodworms/tide. This 

 reduction in catch/effort is also probably the result of larger worms 

 being commercially harvested at that time. Sandrof ( 1946) reported 

 that the average natural length of commercial-sized bloodworms 

 was 6-8 in (15.2-20.3 cm), which is equivalent to approximately 

 22-29 cm relaxed length (Fig. 5A). It is also possible that this 

 reduction in catch/effort may have resulted from frequent "limits" 

 imposed upon bloodworm diggers. 



?4 Dean. D.. and J. Ewart. 1978. Final report, environmental surveillance and 

 studies at the Maine Yankee nuclear generating station 1969-1977. Section 10 Ben- 

 thos (commercially important invertebrates). Maine Yankee Atomic Power Com- 

 pany. 830 p. 



22 



