Saving Seafood

Could moon snails, neon flying squid fisheries save the scallop industry? Some local scientists are hopeful

January 6, 2026 — When was the last time you tried a new food? Something you’ve never tasted before. That’s what Captain Jack Morris was doing when I approached him in a buffet line at a Fisheries Innovation and Technology Expo at Moby Dick Brewing Co., in New Bedford. I asked him what he was trying.

“The squid,” he said. “I’m kinda working my way around. But no, it’s good. Excellent, really.”

The squid Morris was tasting is not the kind you’d find at your favorite fishmonger or offered up as calamari at a local restaurant. At least not yet. Morris was trying out various preparations of neon flying squid, including a calamari dish.

“The fried squid, I’m gonna grab a couple of them,” he said. “I’m sure they’re good too.”

And they were. Neon flying squid tastes like the squid we’re used to being served, but they’re a much bigger animal that lives out in the deep ocean.

Read the full article at wbur

Atlantic Sea Scallop Dredge Survey Enters 4th Decade

December 22, 2025 — The Atlantic Sea Scallop Dredge Survey, a cornerstone of fisheries science and management along the U.S. East Coast, marked more than four decades of research in 2024, underscoring its role in supporting one of the region’s most valuable commercial fisheries.

First launched in 1979, the survey has evolved from a government-led effort into a collaborative partnership between marine scientists and the scallop fishing industry. Today, researchers work alongside commercial crews aboard working scallop vessels, allowing data to be collected under real-world fishing conditions.

The survey gathers critical information on the abundance, spatial distribution, and life history of Atlantic sea scallops across a broad range, from Georges Bank to the Delmarva Peninsula. This long-running dataset provides fisheries managers with the scientific foundation needed to set catch limits, protect habitat, and ensure the sustainability of the stock.

Read the full article at the Cape Charles Mirror

Low scallop quota will likely continue string of lean years for industry in Northeast US

December 18, 2025 — Scallop fishing opportunities in the U.S. Northeast continue to be low, leaving companies in the region facing another lean year.

The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) recently approved Framework Adjustment 40, setting 36 days-at-sea for full-time Limited Access permit holders and 14.4 days-at-sea for part-time Limited Access permit holders. With that level of fishing opportunity, the council is projecting landings of 17.1 million pounds – a far cry from the historically high harvest of 60 million pounds projected in 2019.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NEFMC projects continued low landings for scallop fishery, adopts new strategic plan

December 15, 2025 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has approved Framework Adjustment 40, setting the rules for the Northeast U.S. scallop fishery for 2026 and projecting landings of 17.1 million pounds.

That 17.1 million pound project is down from the 19.75 million pounds projected for 2025, which itself was a 28 percent drop from the 27.4 million pounds projected for 2024. The decreased quota fits with NEFMC’s predictions in 2024, which suggested the years following would be challenging for the fishery.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Facing dwindling resources, scallopers revisit controversial permit stacking proposal

November 25, 2025 — To walk down New Bedford’s Pier 3 is to view a time capsule of the historic fishing town, memorialized not just by plaques and monuments but by the decades-old, rusted trawlers parked stern to stern on the cramped commercial harbor.

By design, these boats spend more time tied up at the docks than they do on the open ocean. Some scallopers are trying to put them back on the water.

In October, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell penned a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expressing early support for the new proposal to allow permit-stacking in scallop fisheries.

“Even the casual observer can’t help but notice that we have lots of boats in the dock,” Mitchell told The Light in an interview. “It’s pretty crowded, and so people wonder, ‘Well, why are they all there?’ Part of the answer is, ‘Well, they don’t fish all that much.’”

Mitchell’s endorsement of scallop permit-stacking contrasts with his position on a similar question three years ago.

In 2022, the New England Fisheries Management Council overwhelmingly struck down a similar proposal that would have allowed scallop permit holders to lease their scalloping permits to other vessel owners, essentially “stacking” multiple permits on a temporary basis.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

Unusual Juvenile Haddock Aggregation Observed During the November 2025 Scallop Research Set-Aside Survey of Eastern Georges Bank

November 14, 2025 – Researchers from the Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF)
recently made an unexpected discovery during their November 2025 scallop survey on
Georges Bank: 76 juvenile haddock caught at several stations aboard the F/V Vigilance.
Haddock are rarely found in such numbers in scallop dredge surveys, making this
observation particularly noteworthy.

The finding, part of CFF’s long-term Seasonal Scallop Survey, underscores the
importance of consistent monitoring efforts that not only support scallop management
but also reveal broader ecosystem patterns across Georges Bank. The CFF seasonal
survey is unique in the region because it operates six times per year, collecting data
during months when other surveys used for fisheries management are not active.

Read the full story at Coonamessett Farm Foundation

NEW YORK: Peconic Bay 2025 scallop harvest remains poor

November 4, 2025 — The 2025 scallop season got off to a rough start in Peconic Bay on Monday, and the prospect of a bountiful haul is not looking good for the fifth straight year.

Charlie Manwaring, owner of the popular Southold Fish Market, said he has about 30 to 40 bushels right now and expects a few more later this week, but doesn’t expect a good year.

“The season sucks. Period. There’s not a lot. It is what it is,” Mr. Manwaring told The Suffolk Times. “We will have some scallops tomorrow. For a couple days, we’re probably going to have some scallops for sale, but it’s probably going to be hit or miss.”

Bay scallops can be harvested from the first Monday in November to March 31. According to the state regulations, they must be 2-1/4 inch length from mid-hinge to mid-bill and display an annual growth ring.

Read the full article at The Suffolk Times

Catch limits for scallops on Georges Bank reduced due to increase in predator population

October 28, 2025 — One of Nova Scotia’s most lucrative seafood species is being attacked by natural predators on one of the most famous fishing grounds.

What remains to be seen is whether it’s a short-term occurrence or a sign of things to come.

A recently published stock assessment by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for sea scallops in Scallop Fishing Area (SFA) 27A on Georges Bank notes major changes in the amount of biomass and natural mortality rates. The changes were dramatic enough that DFO reduced the total allowable catch last December.

Fully recruited biomass decreased to 13,570 tonnes in 2024 from 31,095 tonnes in 2023 after fluctuating “within the healthy zone since the 2000s,” the science advisory report said. Fully recruited refers to commercial-size scallops.

Recruit biomass — the total mass of new scallops in the population — dropped by 72 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

The report said the “significant interannual changes” in stock condition for the SFA are likely driven by environmental variability.

“Research vessel survey data from Canada and the United States suggest that predator abundance, notably sea stars and crabs, has increased within the areas of known scallop distribution. Aggregations of predators in areas of high scallop density contribute to increases in natural mortality.”

Read the full article at CBC News

MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor of New Bedford urges NOAA to approve proposal allowing scallop permit stacking

October 20, 2025 — The mayor of the city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is calling on NOAA Fisheries to allow full-time scallop vessels to stack two permits on one vessel.

Mayor Jon Mitchell, in a letter sent to NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, called on the agency to allow for permit stacking in order to help protect the industry. Mitchell’s letter said he has reconsidered his position on the matter, as the scallop fishery continues to face limited days at sea.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New Bedford Mayor Urges NOAA to Advance Targeted Scallop Permit-Stacking to Keep Fleet Working

October 17, 2025 — Mayor Jon Mitchell today wrote to Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, setting forth his position on a proposed rule that would allow full-time, limited-access scallop permit holders to “stack” two permits on a single vessel. New Bedford has been the nation’s highest-value fishing port for 23 consecutive years, since 2001. As the Mayor writes, “the Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of America’s highest grossing commercial fisheries and is concentrated in New Bedford,” giving the city “a singular interest in policies that govern the allocation of scallop permits.”

Background and changing circumstances

Three years ago, the mayor opposed a proposal that would have authorized leasing of limited-access scallop permits. In his view then, it went further than necessary to address over-capitalization and risked inexorable industry consolidation, costing shoreside jobs and diminishing returns to single-boat owners and their crews, while failing to sufficiently engage the small businesses most exposed. He now notes that changing circumstances have prompted him to revisit his position, given the continued tightening of effort controls and their knock-on effects throughout the fleet and waterfront.

Why the industry needs relief

“The continued decline in available days-at-sea and closed area trips for limited-access permit holders has forced a broad reckoning in the industry that the traditional assignment of one permit per boat is antiquated. It has resulted in scallopers remaining in port for nearly eleven months a year on average – hardly an efficient use of a multi-million-dollar business asset,” the mayor writes. Building on that point, the mayor cites the practical consequences in port: prolonged vessel idling has increased congestion on municipal piers, reducing safety for fishermen; and by cutting average-boat revenues, it has constrained reinvestment in vessels, raising additional safety concerns.

What’s different now

“The new proposal is being advanced by a different group of proponents, who went back to the proverbial drawing board to fashion a more measured approach. In its broadest terms, the proposal would not allow the leasing of permits, but it instead would allow the transfer of permits between two vessels of similar size and common ownership. In practice, this would enable one boat to fish for approximately twice as long in any given year,” the mayor wrote.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com