May 19, 2025 — Anyone who doubts the value of having UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Marine Science and Technology in New Bedford should take a look at the situation developing in the scalloping industry.
Directly because of survey data collected by CMAST, government regulators are being forced to do some hard re-thinking of their plans to cut back even further on the number of fishing days scallopers are allowed. It’s not a moment too soon Unless something changes, next year the fishing limit will be down to 51 days from the current 121 days. Sebastian O’Kelly, the National Marine Fisheries Service’s new ombudsman, was in New Bedford for a visit this week and said, “It would be a substantial cutback if that goes into effect and will have a substantial impact on New Bedford, no question.”