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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access published online on October 22, 2007
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsm153
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© 2007 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Dredging for edible cockles (Cerastoderma edule) on intertidal flats: short-term consequences of fisher patch-choice decisions for target and non-target benthic fauna

Casper Kraan1,, Theunis Piersma2, Anne Dekinga1, Anita Koolhaas1 and Jaap van der Meer1

1 Department of Marine Ecology and Evolution, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
2 NIOZ, Texel, and Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), University of Groningen, PO Box 14, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands

Correspondence to C. Kraan: tel: +31-222-369300; fax: +31-222-319674; e-mail: kraan{at}nioz.nl

Kraan, C., Piersma, T., Dekinga, A., Koolhaas, A. and van der Meer, J., 2007. Dredging for edible cockles (Cerastoderma edule) on intertidal flats: short-term consequences of fisher patch-choice decisions for target and non-target benthic fauna. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64.

Intertidal flats in the Dutch Wadden Sea are protected by national and international treaties. Still, mechanical dredging for edible cockles Cerastoderma edule was allowed in 74% of 1200 km2 of intertidal flats. Cumulatively, between 1992 and 2001, 19% of the intertidal area was affected by mechanical cockle-dredging at least once. On the basis of a grid of 2650 stations sampled annually, we evaluate the extent to which cockle-dredging from 1998 to 2003 was selective with respect to non-target macrozoobenthic intertidal fauna. In all 4 years that comparisons could be made, to-be-dredged areas contained greater diversity of macrobenthic animals than areas that remained undredged. Targeted cockles were 2.5 times more abundant in areas that were to be dredged shortly, but other species also occurred in higher densities in these areas. Small amphipods and some bivalves occurred less in to-be-dredged areas than elsewhere. In terms of short-term responses to dredging, four non-target species showed a significant decrease in abundance 1 year after dredging. Only Tellina tenuis showed an increase a year after dredging.

Keywords: cockle-dredging, intertidal macrozoobenthos, patch-choice, short-term effects, Wadden Sea

Received 23 May 2007; accepted 11 September 2007.


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