Scallop dredgers are fishing devices that scrape the seabed to catch shellfish, including scallops, oysters, and crabs. They can cause damage to the seabed and bycatch of other species. Scallops can also be farmed or hand-harvested by divers. Dredges consist of a mesh net attached to a metal frame that is towed behind a motorized vessel. After the net is filled, the contents are processed, and bycatch is separated. Hand harvesting is less disruptive but more labor-intensive.
A scallop dredger is a fishing device capable of scraping along a seabed to catch edible shellfish. Some dredges are designed specifically for scallop fishing, although very similar devices are also used to obtain oysters, crabs and various other species that live on the ocean floor. These dredgers are typically built with steel and wire mesh frames and are towed behind motorized trawlers. Fishing dredges can cause substantial damage to a seabed and result in unwanted bycatch of species such as octopuses and starfish.
Scallops are a type of edible shellfish that are found in all of the world’s oceans. These bivalve molluscs have a fan-shaped shell and are filter feeders that live on the seabed. Most scallop fishing uses dredges, although there are a few other methods. Long rakes were used in the past, although this method is less effective than a scallop dredger and is no longer as common. In addition to being caught in the wild through these methods, scallops can also be farmed in a type of aquaculture.
The basic construction of a scallop dredge consists of a mesh net attached to a metal frame. This device is lowered to the seabed from a motorized fishing vessel and then towed. The leading edge of the net is open, allowing the frame to dig through materials on the seabed as the trawler tows it forward. Small items pass through the net and any scallops on the seabed get trapped inside. Several of these dredgers are often towed at the same time, and large vessels can field 20 or more on each side.
After the net of a scallop dredge has been filled, the device can be raised to the surface for processing the contents. Many shellfish-eating species, such as whelks and starfish, are caught together with scallops and must be separated. Other species may also be part of this bycatch because anything larger than a scallop can become entangled in a scallop dredger.
An alternative to fishing with a scallop dredge is hand harvesting, which is typically done by a diver equipped with an underwater snorkel. This type of scallop fishing may be less disruptive to seabed ecology, although it is a more labor intensive endeavor. Scallops caught this way tend to reach market faster due to the extra processing that dredger-caught scallops typically undergo.
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