A total of 383 scallops were collected in this survey, with scallops present on 66 out of the 151 transects surveyed. The mean size (ANOVA, F(380, 2)=13.9, p< 0.05) and recreational area (p<0.05) (Table 2). The greatest average density per site was observed within Paterson Inlet with 0.21 scallops per m2 at site M2, in the inner inlet (Figure 2). The next highest average density per site was found at site M9 in the outer inlet with a density less than half of the greatest density at 0.06 scallops per m2 (Figure 2). Four sites contained no scallops in any of the transects surveyed (Rec3, M8, D1 & D4; Figure 1 & 2).
Only four cryptic scallops were found by the second diver searching carefully through the randomly placed quadrats. Therefore, the detection rate of P. novaezealandiae by the first diver was determined to be 99% across the entire survey.
Due to the poor quality of some images, percentage cover estimates from two transects within Rec3 were generated using only two images, and were not calculated for two transects within M7 which were excluded from the statistical analysis. Three transects (all within site M4) contained 100% macroalgae cover; therefore sediment type classification was based on the dominant sediment found at the entire site. Model selection …show more content…
The best negative binomial model according to AICc for explaining the counts of scallops per transect included the following variables: management regime, presence or absence of benthic microalgae, distance from the inlet entrance, Coscinasterias muricata (eleven-arm starfish) density and percentage macroalgae cover (Table 3). The Akaike weight of this top model (0.31) gives an indication that there is no one best model (Table 3). A multi-model averaging process was therefore performed on models within six AICc values of the best model (Table