The number might be three on each side of a small 10-metre (33 ft) boat up to 20 on each side for a 30-metre (98 ft) vessel with 1500 hp. The length of the bar and number of dredges towed depends on the power of the vessel and the room on the side deck for working the dredges. A number of these dredges can be towed from a heavy spreading bar, usually one from each side of the vessel. In some cases, several dredges are attached to a wheeled rigid axle in groups of three or four. The net catches the larger organisms: in the case of scallop dredging that includes the scallops' predators, such as whelks, starfish and octopus. The New Bedford (USA) dredge does not have teeth.ĭredge nets have a coarse mesh in order to let organisms smaller than the target species through. This design was improved by using spring-loaded teeth that reduced bottom snagging, and so could be used over rough ground. These teeth raked or ploughed the sand and mud, digging up buried clams. In Europe, early dredges had teeth, called tynes, at the bottom. The chain mesh functions as a net.ĭredges may or may not have teeth along the bottom bar of the frame. The frame is covered with chain mesh which is open on the front, which is towed. The dredge is usually constructed from a heavy steel frame in the form of a scoop.

Dredges are also used in connection with the work of the naturalist in marine biology, notably on the Challenger Expedition.Ĭonstruction Oyster harvesting using rakes (top) and sail driven dredges (bottom).

The dredge is then winched up into the boat and emptied. The gear is used to fish for scallops, oysters and other species of clams, crabs, and sea cucumber. A fishing dredge, also known as a scallop dredge or oyster dredge, is a kind of dredge which is towed along the bottom of the sea by a fishing boat in order to collect a targeted edible bottom-dwelling species.

Small scallop dredge