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3.4.6 Baitworms
Bloodworms (Glycera dibranchiata) have been harvested commercially from Long Cove (Gilfillan et al. 1977). The only areas in the Searsport-Stockton Springs region identified as commercial beds of marine worms by Fefer and Schettig (1980, Atlas Map 4) were the head of Stockton Harbor and Fort Point Cove (northeast side of Cape Jellison). Sears Island was not identified as having commercial worm beds.
The broad mud flat in Long Cove provides the preferred substrate - fine mud with high organic content - of this species (Wilson and Ruff 1988). Small bloodworms were observed in the intertidal zone of Sears Island, particularly in areas of fine sediments, during the 1992 reconnaissance as well as in sediments adjacent to the causeway in 1989-1991 (NAI 1993). Based on sediment characteristics, bloodworms are likely to reach highest abundances at the northern (northeast of the saltmarsh and in the mussel bed) and southern (south of the southern end of the proposed cargo terminal) ends of the study area.