Research Document - 2007/037

2002 Survey for Ocean Quahogs (Arctica islandica) at the mouth of St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia

By Roddick, D., K. Mombourquette, and R. Kilada

Abstract

There has been sporadic interest in developing a fishery for ocean quahogs (Arctica islandica), in Nova Scotia since the 1920’s. A small inshore fishery sells small ocean quahogs to the live market, but there is interest in establishing a processing plant to utilise the larger quahogs. One area of interest is St. Mary’s Bay, Nova Scotia, where a large inshore bed of quahogs has been known to exist. A survey conducted in 1997 had difficulty determining the distance towed, and did not cover the full extent of the bed. This document reports on a 2002 industry funded survey which covered a larger area. The ocean quahog bed in St. Mary’s Bay has an estimated biomass of 158,000 mt which can produce a sustainable yield of 2,344 t per year. The meat yield would be approximately 27% of this or 633 t. The fishery would have little bycatch of other species. This harvest rate would not be enough to supply a processing plant and so other quahog beds would have to be utilized.

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