Ireland assesses its crucial scallop fishery

摘要

Annual landings of scallop (Pecten maximus) by Irish vessels averaged 668 tonnes between 1990 and 1998, and increased to 1559 tonnes in 1999. This increase resulted from an expansion of the fleet, especially in 1999, when a number of new bi-valve licences were issued. Fishing effort expanded to the western English Channel and the Irish Sea with the introduction of these new vessels. Landings peaked at 1891 tonnes in 2004. At a meat (muscle and roe) cut out weight of 23% of live weight and a value of15 EUR(18.80 dollar) per kg, the value of the landings at first point of sale were just over 6.5 million EUR (8.2 million dollar) in 2004.