NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — August 28, 2012 — A recent bottom survey of sea scallop stocks in the Northeast augurs well for the future of the industry, with large numbers of juvenile or “seed” scallops detected in the waters off the Mid-Atlantic coast.
In an area off Delaware Bay, known to fishermen as the Elephant Trunk, the numbers of juveniles were particularly high, according to researchers at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole.
These young scallops could grow to commercial size in about three years and with sea scallops currently fetching between $10 and $11 per pound at the dock, the new recruits could mean a bonanza for New Bedford scallop fishermen and processors in the future.
“By 2015, landings will be as good or better than they’ve ever been,” said Dvora Hart, an operations research analyst with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The survey also found an abundance of young scallops to the north in the Hudson Canyon and south in Delmarva.
Over the past 13 years, Hart, a mathematical biologist by training, has developed a method of forecasting scallop stocks to aid the National Marine Fisheries Service in setting catch limits. In the short term, there may be some reduction in the total catch because of recent poor years for juveniles but the future now looks bright, Hart said.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.