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Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine whether fishing for ocean quahogs (Arctica islandica) with hydraulic dredges on the continental shelf off the coast of northeastern United States alters the abundance or species composition of associated benthic macroinvertebrates. Invertebrate populations in three types of ocean quahog beds were sampled with a Smith-McIntyre grab (0.1 m 2) in October 1978, at the end of the reproductive season of most invertebrates. The beds differed in that one had been fished for about a year and then abandoned in May-June 1978, another had been fished for about 2 years and was actively fished during the sampling, and the third bed had never been fished and served as a control. Differences in the mean numbers of total invertebrates and species were not statistically significant and differences in the abundance-weighted species composition were not evident among the beds. Thus, hydraulic dredging for ocean quahogs did not appear to alter the invertebrate populations in these beds off the coast of New Jersey. This finding is important because many of the invertebrates found here serve as food for crabs and fish.