Clam Dredges (3/3)

small commercial fishing vessel
A small commercial fishing vessel of unknown type, although the bushels on deck would imply that she was after some kind of shellfish.

There are three basic types of commercial fishing vessels found in the Mid-Atlantic region: trawlers, seiners/gill-netters, and long-liners. A trawler or "dragger" operates by towing its fishing gear across the bottom. Weighted nets take bottom fishes, while cage-like steel dredges take clams and scallops. A seiner uses a floating net to encircle schools of surface-swimming fishes such as herring and tuna. A long-liner sets out miles of buoyed line with baited hooks to catch sharks, tuna, and swordfish. One could also add lobster boats and charter fishing or "head" boats to this list. And of course, dive boats.

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Clam Dredges

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Squilla empusa is a species of mantis shrimp found in areas of the western Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico to Cape Cod, from the intertidal zone down to about 500 ft. It excavates and occupies a deep U-shaped burrow in soft sediment, from which it emerges, mainly at night, to feed on fish and invertebrate prey. They grow to a length of 12", although I have only ever seen small ones in the bellies of striped bass.