SavingSeaFood - Scallops keep Cape May the No. 2 East Coast port

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Scallops keep Cape May the No. 2 East Coast port

CAPE MAY, N.J. -- September 25, 2012 -- Cape May remained the East Coast's second-most valuable fishing port last year, aided by rising scallop prices that offset a declining catch, according to a report.

The report from the National Marine Fisheries Service shows the port, which includes docks in Lower Township and Wildwood but none actually in Cape May, took in $103 million last year. That's up from $81 million in 2010.

Cape May trails New Bedford, Mass., among East Coast ports and ranks fifth nationwide.

The Press of Atlantic City reports that scallops are its primary catch. They rose last year from $7.92 per pound to nearly $10 a pound. That is the price paid to the fishing vessels, but the value of the catch rises at least sixfold before the seafood reaches consumers.

The amount of fish brought to the docks in Cape May port declined from 43 million pounds to 40 million pounds.

Read the full story from the AP at the Ventura County Star

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