Survey on Chamelea gallina bedsin the Lignano area (Gulf of Trieste, Adriatic Sea)

Following the mass mortality which occurred in 1996, the rebuilding of the Striped Venus clam(Chamelea gallina) stock was complicated due to recruitment failure and low grawth rate, as suggested by seasonal surveys. Thin sections of shell were obtained from twenty clams randomly extracted for every survey and it was observed that the cleft was formed in the autumn as acertained in previous surveys. Stock management based on minimum size and quantities only is discussed. At present, in spite of the effort to manage the population made by both the Public Authority and fishermen soon after 1996, the depletion of the area is almost complete as resulted from surveys done in 2009 and 2011