Bottom Towed Fisheries
Bottom Towed fishing gear is used throughout the Southern IFC District in the coastal waters of Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Bottom towed fishing gear includes scallop, mussel, oyster and clam dredges, trawl nets and bait draggers. However, there are many areas all over the District in which all Bottom Towed Gears are prohibited in order to protect sensitive marine habitats. For more information about the location of these area’s see the Bottom Towed Gear Regualtions Page, or for more inforamtion regarding why these areas are protected see the relevant Conservation Page.
In Dorset, scallop dredgers collect king scallops from seabed sediment habitats largely in Lyme Bay. Bottom trawls (light otter trawls and beam trawls) are used to target a variety of fish species including cuttlefish, sole, plaice, squid, skate and rays throughout Lyme, Weymouth and Poole Bay and in the Solent.
In 2019, more than 370 tonnes 1 of fish were caught in the Southern IFC District using bottom trawls.
In addition dredge fishing for shellfish such as clams, cockles and scallops occurs in Poole Harbour and the Solent. However in these areas dredge fishing can only be carried out under the Authority of a permit. For more information on these activites visit the Solent Dredge Fisheries Page and the Poole Harbour fisheries Page.
1 Data reported from UK Fisheries Statistics 2019