andMr. Begley asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the extent of the bed of queen scallops or queenies discovered between Lambay Island and the Tuskar Rock and his estimation of the area fishable by normal boats equipped with normal gear.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Stocks of Queen Scallops.
42.
In September, 1970, fairly abundant stocks of queen scallops were found off the Bray Bank along the east coast and subsequently further concentrations of these shellfish were located north of Bray Bank in the Kish Bank area. The two areas in question are roughly 2½ × 1 miles and 3½ × 1 miles in extent. Queen scallops are to be found in varying concentrations elsewhere in the Irish Sea but information is not yet available as to whether they are present in sufficient quantities to support a fishery.
Queen scallops can be taken by the general run of Irish fishing trawlers using slightly modified trawls but dredging is the more appropriate method of fishing since fishing for queen scallops is excedingly damaging to normal trawl materials.