October 14, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has awarded 14 new projects through its 2026 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program, supporting research ranging from expanded Georges Bank surveys to artificial intelligence, scallop recruitment, and mortality.
Rather than providing federal funding directly, the Research Set-Aside Program allocates a portion of the scallop harvest to researchers, who work with commercial fishermen to harvest the scallops and generate funding for their projects.
This year, researchers were awarded more than 1.5 million pounds of Atlantic sea scallops. At an estimated value of $16 per pound, NOAA Fisheries expects the allocation to generate more than $25 million, with approximately $6 million supporting research and the remaining $19 million going to participating harvesters.