Atlantic scallop Archives - Page 2 of 7

Commercial scalloper: “I just want to get by and not get ripped off.”

November 4, 2024 — Fifty-year fishing veteran Doug Smith, better known as Captain Smitty on the waterfront, is worried about the state of commercial scalloping on Nantucket.

Catching them isn’t the problem, he said.

The fishery is a far cry from what it was in the 1980s, but he had no issues collecting his five-bushel limit on the opening day of commercial scalloping season Friday. He was offloading his haul at Straight Wharf by noontime.

“I’m scared, and I’m looking for new resources. Something new and exciting, rather than the three dominant buyers,” Smith said Friday.

Island fish markets would not confirm what they were paying fishermen for their scallops Friday, but several scallopers and dealers said that Sayle’s Seafood, Glidden’s Island Seafood and Nantucket Seafoods were offering between $12-14 a pound. Last year most buyers were paying $15 on opening day.

Read the full article at The Inquirer and Mirror

MASSACHUSETTS: Nantucket Commercial Scalloping Season Opens; Fisherman Getting $12 Per Pound

November 1, 2024 — Nantucket’s commercial scalloping season opened Friday morning with roughly 20 boats returning to the water as temperatures hovered in the 60s.

Most of the island’s fleet was in town, concentrating on Nantucket Harbor but a few boats were in Madaket Harbor.

The wholesale price paid to fishermen opened at $12 per pound – down from last year’s opening day price – while the retail price settled around $22 to $26 per pound at island fish markets.

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

Port of New Bedford cites ‘grave concern’ about new offshore wind area

October 25, 2024 — The city’s Port Authority published a letter to offshore wind regulators Wednesday, raising “grave concerns” over a 13.4 million acre tract of ocean recently opened to wind farm developers in the Central Atlantic that could put up to $2 billion in commercial fishing revenue at risk.

“BOEM has painted with too broad a brush,” New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell wrote in the letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). “We believe that the new Mid-Atlantic call areas must be cut back from existing scallop and other fishery access areas, which still would leave ample room for nearby states to achieve their offshore wind capacity goals.”

In August, BOEM began soliciting proposals for offshore wind developers to lease 13.4 million acres of ocean off New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. It is the second of such sales in the Central Atlantic and the fifth offshore wind lease sale held during the Biden-Harris administration. The first lease sale in the Central Atlantic was completed also in August, yielding nearly $93 million from developers Equinor Wind US and Virginia Electric and Power Company.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Scallop, menhaden fishermen call to cut back Mid-Atlantic wind areas

October 25, 2024 — A recent proposal to outline new wind energy areas off the Mid-Atlantic coast could threaten some of the most important East Coast sea scallop fishing grounds, New Bedford, Mass. officials warned the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

“As the port where the fishing and offshore wind industry intersect more than anywhere else, New Bedford is committed to the successful coexistence of both industries,” New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said, in an Oct 23 statement with the New Bedford Port Authority. “We believe that the new Mid-Atlantic call areas must be cut back from existing scallop and other fishery access areas, which still would leave ample room for nearby states to achieve their offshore wind capacity goals.”

The next day Virginia-based menhaden fishermen also called for BOEM to alter its plans and provide significant setbacks from wind power development areas and fishing grounds.

Read the full article at WorkBoat

VIRGNIA: A look into revival of bay scallops along Virginia’s Eastern Shore

October 16, 2024 — Bay scallops along Virginia’s Eastern Shore are no longer extinct thanks to a decades-long seagrass restoration project, known to be one of the largest and most successful in the world.

The recent annual population survey shows the density of bay scallops in southern coastal bays has climbed by nearly 0.07 scallops per square meter. But when did the decline of the popular saltwater native actually begin?

Dr. Richard Snyder, Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Laboratory Director and Marine Science Professor, said wild bay scallops disappeared from Virginia in 1932, also marking the last commercial harvest for the scallops in the Commonwealth. The extinction of the population was attributed to a chronic wasting disease that wiped out their critical seagrass habitat.

Read the full article at WRIC

Early projections suggest Northeast US may get lower scallop quota in 2025

October 9, 2024 — The latest scientific surveys of scallop fishing areas in the Northeast U.S. show biomass decreased from 2023 to 2024 – which will likely result in a lower total allowable catch in 2025.

The scallop fishery in the Northeast U.S. is one of the most valuable fisheries in the country and has been grappling with lower quotas since a massive 2019 season saw the fishery land over 60 million pounds. That season was largely thanks to a massive recruitment event that occurred in the 2012 to 2013 scallop class, but now, those scallops have either been fished or aged out of the fishery.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

AI transforms scallop stock assessments for greater accuracy

October 3, 2024 — Artificial Intelligence and machine learning help researchers take a giant step toward more accurate stock assessments.

Since the early 2000s, New England and Mid-Atlantic scallop fisheries have been managed sustainably through temporary area closures and periodic harvests by vessels limited to seven-person crews. This sound management depends on accurate numbers, and the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) relies on data drawn from different sources for its Atlantic sea scallop stock assessments. “We get data from Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, and others says Teri Frady, communications chief at NOAA Fisheries. But Frady is particularly interested in new AI-augmented data coming from the work of Dvora Hart at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center—NEFSC—in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. “I’m always interested in what Dvora is doing,” says Frady.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor Jon Mitchell responds to work being halted on Northern Edge scalloping grounds

July 3, 2024 — The New England Fishery Management Council has decided to halt work on opening the Northern Edge scalloping grounds to commercial fishermen.

Back in April, Mayor Jon Mitchell before the board in Mystic, Conn. and said that making these areas available would benefit the industry greatly, to create a “key new source of scallops.”

“While there are multiple species that are harvested by New Bedford fishing vessels, scallops are the prime drivers of economic activity within the Port of New Bedford,” he said.

“The fishermen of New Bedford know this, and they take great care in maintaining the resource and recognize the strategic long-term importance of managing the biomass,” he continued.

Read the full article at ABC 6

Fisheries Survival Fund Urges Northern Edge Scallop Access at Upcoming New England Fishery Management Council Meeting

June 26, 2024 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

Recent Advisory Panel and Joint Scallop and Habitat Committee meetings have underscored the need to align the access season with periods of high scallop meat yields while ensuring the safety of our fishermen.

The upcoming Council meeting in Freeport, Maine on Thursday, June 27, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport, will be pivotal for the future of Northern Edge scallop access. Key decisions could be made that will impact scallop yields and crew safety.

Opponents of Northern Edge access may propose motions to terminate or severely restrict the Northern Edge scallop access area management initiative. The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) would oppose any such motions and advocates for maintaining a viable Northern Edge access area program.

The Northern Edge is roughly defined as the area encompassed within the Closed Area II Habitat Management Area (HMA) and the adjacent portion of the Northern Flank of Georges Bank. Photo and caption credit: New England Fishery Management Council.

Scallop issues are on the agenda starting at 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning.

Motion to Reject Seasonal Closure Option A
- FSF strongly opposes the anticipated motion to reject the seasonal closure option A (July 15 through October 15) and replace it with a new closure option from April 1 through October 31. This motion would substitute a 9-month open season, which aligns with periods of high scallop meat yields and favorable weather, for a less optimal season from November 1 through March 31. This proposal directly contradicts the Scallop Advisory Panel’s recommendation for spring/summer access from April 1 to August 31.
- Reasons for FSF’s Opposition:
  - Optimal scallop yields and reduced habitat impacts are achieved when access matches periods of highest meat yield, as proposed in Closure Option A.
  - Ensuring scallop access during spring and summer months enhances safety, which the new proposed closure option fails to do.
  - A sufficient access period is essential for the entire fleet to operate safely.
  - The proposed access plan already adequately protects juvenile cod, egg-bearing lobsters, and avoids disrupting spawning seasons for cod and herring.
Motion to Abandon the Northern Edge Access Program
- FSF opposes any motion to abandon the Northern Edge access program.
- Reasons for FSF’s Opposition:
  - The current alternatives are conservative, having already excluded sensitive bottom areas and considered mitigation.
  - The access area program already provides protection for juvenile cod, cod spawning, herring spawning, and egg-bearing lobsters, alongside existing lobster fishing activities.
  - The scallop fishery must retain access to this crucial resource, particularly given the declining productivity of southern areas.
  - Minimal overlap exists between proposed access areas and spawning grounds for cod and herring.
  - Harvesting in the access area program will not interfere with scallop spawning on Georges Bank.
  - Extensive efforts have been made to develop this measure, with effective solutions from the Scallop and Habitat PDTs.
  - The benefits of access are substantial, as demonstrated by the original Georges Bank access program in 2001.

About the Fisheries Survival Fund
Established in 1998, the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) is dedicated to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. FSF represents the majority of full-time Atlantic scallop fishermen from Maine to North Carolina. FSF collaborates with academic institutions and independent scientific experts to support cooperative research and sustain this fully rebuilt fishery. Additionally, FSF works with the federal government to ensure responsible management of the fishery.

For more information, please contact:
John Quinn
jquinnfish@gmail.com
https://atlanticscallops.org

MARYLAND: Scallops, The next big shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay?

June 26, 2024 — Next week, Maryland will expand the definition of shellfish in the state, and one particular mollusk could benefit the most by the change.

Currently, shellfish as defined by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are ‘live oysters, seed oysters, oyster shells, live hard-shell clams, live soft-shell clams, and clam shells’. But thanks to SB303, passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Wes Moore, the definition will expand on July 1 to all ‘live bivalves and bivalve shells’.

Read the full article at WYPR