Effects of scallop dredging on macrobenthic communities in west Iceland

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Guijarro-García, E. (Elena), Ragnarsson, S. (Stefan), Eiríksson, H. (Hrafnkell)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo
• Subjects: benthic communities; bycatch; dredging; macrobenthos; scallop fisheries; Greenland; Cucumaria frondosa; Greenland Sea; Iceland; Modiolus modiolus; North Atlantic; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/9384; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icesjms.2005.08.013

Effects of scallop dredging on benthic communities in Breidafjordur, west Iceland, were investigated by analysing bycatch data from scallop stock assessment surveys and effort data from the commercial scallop fishery. Bycatch constituted 28% of the total catch, with eight benthic macrofaunal taxa alone making up nearly 98% of the bycatch. Modiolus modiolus and Cucumaria frondosa dominated in terms of abundance and biomass in most of the study area regardless of intensity of fishing effort, although both have been identified as sensitive to fishing in other studies. The macrofaunal benthic community in Breidafjordur consisted mostly of hard-shelled molluscs, holothurians, crabs, and starfish. Emerging epifauna was absent in the samples taken since 1993. These results suggest that our study was carried out within an already altered community that would have suffered the greatest impact during the early years of the scallop fishery. However, the available data are not enough to endorse this assumption with complete certainty. Nordic Council of Ministers