March 16, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support 15 new projects under the 2022- 2023 award cycle. The awards are expected to generate $3.8 million to fund the research and $12.5 million to compensate industry partners who harvest the set-aside scallops. In order to determine the award amounts, sea scallop price was projected to average $15 per pound.
Six different institutions will lead the projects, partnering with fishermen, fishing businesses, and non-profit fishery research organizations.
The 2022-2023 RSA projects address research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council in June 2021. The Council’s priorities focused on resource surveys, research on scallop biology and sea turtles, scallop recruitment supplementation, bycatch reduction, and gear research.
RSA-funded scallop surveys have been a long- standing priority and have become increasingly important in: (1) providing information that directly helps scientists determine the status and distribution of the resource; and (2) guiding the Council in making management decisions.