Results for the 2021 VIMS Industry Cooperative Surveys of the Mid-Atlantic, Nantucket Lightship, Closed Area I, and Closed Area II Resource Areas

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) conducted high resolution sea scallop dredge surveys of the Mid-Atlantic (MAB), the Nantucket Lightship (NLCA), Closed Area I (CAI), and Closed Area II (CAII) during May - July 2021 (Figure 1). These surveys were funded by the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program (RSA). Exploitable biomass for each survey is shown in Table 1 for each SAMS Area (Scallop Area Management Simulator). SAMS Areas represent management relevant spatial subunits of the resource and explicitly account for differences in recruitment, vital rates, and fishing effort in the forward projection of survey information. This information is used to provide information in the development of alternatives for the annual specifications process. Maps of SAMS Areas are provided in Figures 2 - 5. At the time of the surveys, exploitable biomass estimated from the commercial dredge was 2,316 mt or 5.1 million pounds for the ET Open SAMS Area and 1,230 mt or 2.7 million pounds in the ET Flex SAMS Area. For open bottom in the LI SAMS Area, exploitable biomass was estimated at 7,123 mt or 15.7 million pounds. In the NLCA South Deep SAMS Area, the exploitable biomass was 5,350 mt or 11.8 million pounds. The exploitable biomass estimate for the CAII SW SAMS Area was 15,695 mt or 34.6 million pounds. The CAII Extension (Ext) estimate was 6,220 mt or 13.7 million pounds