© 1993 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Maine's Baitworm Fisheries: Resources at Risk?1
Department of Biology, Colby College Waterville, Maine 04901
Two species of polychaetous annelids are dug for sale as bait from intertidal mudflats of Maine. This effort generatesnearly $3.5 million in annual revenue and comprises over 90% of the baitworm fisheries in the U.S. The two species are (1) sandworms or clamworms, Nereis virens (family Nereididae) and (2) bloodworms or beakworms, Glycera dibranchiata (family Glyceridae). Numbers of baitworm diggers licensed annually in Maine have increased from 449 in 1948 to a maximum of 1,455 in 1974 and decreased since then to 801 in 1991. Sandworm landings increased from the late 1940s until the early 1960s when they leveled off. They fluctuated between 300,000 and 400,000 lbs landed annually for the next 20 years. Between 1982 and 1991, the sandworm landings ranged between 179,000 (1990) and 380,000 (1982) lbs landed per year. Bloodworm landings were at a maximum between 1960 and 1976, ranging between 140,000 and 215,000 lbs landed annually. After a sharp decline in the bloodworm fishery in the late 1970s, annual landings ranged between 102,000 (1988) and 168,000 (1982) lbs. Reasons for the fluctuations and recent decreases in landings remain unexplained. Some data suggest that market demand limits the baitworm landings for both species, while others imply that overharvesting, at least for bloodworms, may be a problem for these resources.