Knowledgebase: Mapping the undersea landscape: Using seafloor maps to improve management of the Gulf of Maine

Case study 5 - Browns Bank
Reducing seabed damage and improving efficiency of scallop fishing

Off Nova Scotia, the scallop beds of Browns Bank support a valuable fishery. Beginning in the 1990s, several scallop companies worked with the Canadian Hydrographic Service and the Geological Survey of Canada to map the area with multibeam sonar. They produced three-dimensional maps of bathymetry, sediments, and benthic habitat, which helped fishermen improve their efficiency and reduce ecological impacts. These two images show the paths of fishing boats before (above left) and after (above right) obtaining habitat maps, when they could target scallop habitat precisely. The total catch remained limited by quotas, but fishing time per metric ton of scallop meat dropped from 6.37 hours to 2.41 hours. The maps enabled the fishermen to catch fewer non-target species, reduce fuel consumpiton by 36 percent, avoid hazards, and drag 74 percent less seabed area. Fisheries managers use the maps to monitor individual scallop beds and improve stock assessments.

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1. An increasing need for seafloor mapping
2. Only 15 percent of Gulf is adequately mapped
3. New technology allows unprecedented mapping
4. Introduction to applications
5. Case study 1: Routing a fiber-optic cable
6. Case study 2: Assessing effects of a fishery closure
7. Case study 3: Improving management of a lobster fishery
8. Case study 4: Identifying low-impact sites for aquaculture
9. Case study 5: Reducing impacts & improving efficiency of scallopers
10. Mapping the future: Gulf of Maine Mapping Initiative

Acknowledgements

Links: More information about seafloor mapping

Download a 4-page, printer-friendly PDF version of "Mapping the undersea landscape: Using seafloor maps to improve management of the Gulf of Maine."

To obtain printed copies of the publication, contact Susan Snow-Cotter.

This publication was produced by the Gulf of Maine Council's Science Translation Project.

Image credit: Ginette Robert, Bedford Institue of Oceanography and Canadian Offshore Scallop Industry Mapping Group