The potential impact of groundfish trawling on benthic habitats and communities is currently a major concern among both fishermen and scientists. Some believe that this practice, which is widely employed by fishermen in Atlantic Canada, may be responsible for recent declines in groundfish stocks. In response to this concern the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has initiated a programme to evaluate this impact. The majority of work is being conducted in continental shelf subtidal environments since this is where most fishing activity occurs. Impact evaluation within subtidal environments requires considerable effort and expense since observations and sampling must be made below low water using remote techniques. Within the Minas Basin of the Bay of Fundy, however, the large tidal amplitude (>12 m) results in a wide intertidal zone that remains exposed for long periods during each tidal cycle. Much of this intertidal area contains benthic communities similar to those found subtidally. This situation presents a unique opportunity to evaluate the potential habitat destruction, together with the potential for recovery, of benthic systems without the observational and sampling constraints encountered when working in subtidal environments.

During a two month period from mid-October to mid-December 1990, the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research carried out a preliminary field study to determine the impact of flounder dragging on the benthic habitat and community within the intertidal area of the Minas Basin. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the extent of physical and biological disturbance to benthic systems caused by flounder dragging activities, and to document the subsequent changes over time paying particular attention to the recovery potential of the benthic community. The results of this preliminary study suggested that the impact, as measured by changes in sediment chlorophyll a and benthic macrofauna numbers, was relatively minor. This study, however, was carried out during late fall when biological activity is decreasing and thus may not have been indicative of the potential impact of draggers operating during the spring and early summer when biological activity is much greater, and when most dragger activity occurs. To address this concern a similar study was carried out during the spring and summer of 1991.