December 18, 2024 — New England scallopers are looking at another tough year in 2025, as they prepare for a set of federal regulations to protect both their livelihoods and the Atlantic Ocean’s scallop populations.
If approved by NOAA Fisheries, the new rules, called Scallop Framework 39, will reduce the number of times that full-time vessels can go drag in some federally-managed scalloping grounds — called “access areas” — in the 2025 fishing year. But they will allow these vessels more time to scallop in the open ocean. The start of the access-area scalloping season will also be pushed back from April 1 to May 15, 2025. It will end on March 31, 2026.
These proposed regulations are meant to conserve the fishery resource as it goes through a period of low productivity, regional fisheries managers say. They were developed by the New England Fishery Management Council.
Surveys showed the overall weight of harvestable scallops in New England waters dropped from 2023 to 2024.
Local scallopers and industry representatives say the contents of Framework 39 are not a surprise. Landings have been shrinking over the past four years.
“We’re just tightening the belt, and taking a deep breath, and riding the storm out,” said New Bedford scallop vessel manager and owner Tony Alvernaz.