Commercial scalloping has been a dicey proposition since the East Coast scallop population inexplicably crashed between 1984 and 1987. No one has been able to explain why the scallop fishery collapsed or why, in a given year, like 2009, the scallop harvest rebounds to glut the market.
Achieving a consistent harvest from year to year is the goal for fisheries managers.
The Island and Nantucket have fared better than most East Coast scallop shell fisheries. Long-time Island managers of the persnickety shellfish believe management practices they've had to learn over the past 25 years help the Island to avoid the peaks and valleys.
"We'll have 1,000 bushels maybe 1,200 bushels, in Oak Bluffs this year, about the same as last year," Oak Bluffs shellfish constable David Grunden estimated in a recent interview. "We've evened out the bouncing around of ten years ago where harvests could fluctuate from 500 to 1,500 bushels from year to year," he said.
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