Saving Seafood

Scallopers press for reopening Northern Edge

September 8, 2025 — The New Bedford scallop fleet and supporters continue to push for a reopening of the Northern Edge scallop access area, a year after the New England Fishery Management Council decided to continue the 30-year closure.

The Northern Edge of Georges Bank is seen by the council as a critical area for juvenile cod, lobster and herring, and the closure has been touted as habitat protection for those species and the scallop biomass.

In April 2025 the Fisheries Survival Fund, representing East Coast scallop fishermen, filed a petition urging U.S Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to reopen the Northern Edge. Their pitch echoed arguments the Fisheries Survival Fund made, unsuccessfully, to the New England council in June 2024.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHSUETTS: Introducing the Scallopalooza festival in Massachusetts’ ‘scallop capital of the world’

August 18, 2025 — The following transcript is by WKU:

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

New Bedford, Massachusetts, calls itself the scallop capital of the world, and on Thursday, the city celebrated Scallopalooza. It’s an event close to the city’s working waterfront that celebrates the Atlantic sea scallop and the people who work on the boats. Caroline Losneck has this audio postcard.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: So while we’re setting up for our scallop shucking contest, which is…

CAROLINE LOSNECK: Like most festivals, Scallopalooza’s fun, but scallops are serious business here. They’re central to the city’s identity and culture. The highlight is a raucous shucking contest where over a dozen local scallopers face off in heats, all up on a stage, to see who can remove the meat from the shell the cleanest and fastest. And spectators in the front rows probably even get some scallop parts on them as a memento.

JOE RITTER: We certainly hope people are going to have a shucking good time at this event.

LOSNECK: Joe Ritter works at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and helped organize Scallopalooza.

RITTER: And the top fisherman from each round is going to go up in the finals, and they’re going to compete for the title of New Bedford’s best shucker. They’re going to get a trophy, and they’re going to get bragging rights, too.

LOSNECK: The impact of the species here is massive. About 80% of the seafood by value that arrives on the docks are from scallops.

RITTER: I would say scallops are to New Bedford like corn and soybeans are to Illinois or Indiana.

MASSACHUSETTS: Local fishermen vie for title of top scallop shucker. A look at contest’s legacy, past winners

August 13, 2025 — Fifteen local scallop fishermen will compete Thursday night, Aug. 14, for the title of New Bedford’s top shucker.

The 2025 Scallopalooza champ will receive a trophy, but being known as the fastest shucker of the resurgent contest this year will start a new tradition of winners to keep track of for posterity.

Only scallop fishermen are participating in the shucking contest — last held in 2017 — and a total of 900 scallops will be shucked when all is said and done.

New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Executive Director Laura Orleans said it’s the scalloper’s job while out at sea to process the scallops, but they will be on land for this contest in the New Bedford Seaport Historic District.

The shucking contest will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 14 in the Fishing Heritage Center parking lot at 38 Bethel St. during the August AHA! Night, which will take place from 5 to 8 p.m.

Read the full article at The Standard-Times

MASSACHSUETTS: Don’t miss scallop shucking, link squeezing competitions at Scallopalooza. What to know

August 12, 2025 — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is bringing back a favored tradition with its revival of a scallop shucking competition.

It will be hosting the inaugural Scallopalooza, a scallop celebration and shucking contest and free public event that will be held during the August AHA! Night from 5 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 14.

Over the years, the scallop shucking contest has been a landmark waterfront event in New Bedford and a showcase of New Bedford’s commercial scallop fishery from the Scallop Festival of the 1950s to the Working Waterfront Festival of the 2000s.

Read the full article at The Standard-Times

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey fishermen net millions of dollars worth of fish, but diners demand more

August 11, 2025 —  Sitting in a Point Pleasant Beach dockside eatery on a summer day, one can take in the sights and sounds of a lively fishing village at work. Sea gulls squawking, commercial boats coming and going, nets drying and lobster pots stacked up on the planked docks.

The aroma of sauteed shrimp and scallops, steam lobster and blue claw crabs water one’s mouth as a waitress or waiter brings you a menu full of seafood delicacies.

But the odds those menu items came from the where the fleet just returned are slim. In fact, this $3.2 billion New Jersey industry supplies just a fraction of the state’s ravenous appetite for seafood, especially when tourism drove more than 123 million to New Jersey last year — 20 million to Monmouth and Ocean counties alone. These visitors spent more than $14 billion on food and drinks, the state’s Division of Travel and Tourism reports.

To make up the difference, restaurants and fish markets must bring in seafood from other states and foreign countries.

Read the full article at Asbury Park Press

Comparing the effectiveness of common Atlantic sea scallop farming methods

August 6, 2025 — Much of the scallop farming techniques used in the U.S. derive from practices in Japan, where scallops have long been a part of the country’s seafood industry. Researchers from the University of Maine are working to test and adapt those practices to help grow the industry in the Gulf of Maine, where oyster farming is currently the most well-known form of aquaculture in Maine’s blue economy.

Building off a four-year study published in the spring, which compared the effectiveness of two different Atlantic sea scallop farming techniques, UMaine researchers further analyzed the economic advantages and disadvantages of the same two methods of scallop aquaculture. Lead researcher Damian Brady, professor of marine sciences at UMaine, and co-author Chris Noren, a postdoctoral researcher, used their results to develop a user-friendly application that helps interested parties compare the different costs and possibilities associated with building their own scallop farms.

“Now new farmers can make educated decisions on what option is going to be most viable for them, taking into account their location, timeframe, budget and all the other pieces that go into scallop farming,” Brady said. “Ultimately, our goal is to help Maine grow this industry to its fullest potential and preserve Maine’s working waterfronts—an integral part of the state’s culture and history.”

Published in the journal Aquaculture, the study looked at two of the most common options for scallop farming: lantern net and ear-hanging. Previously, lantern net methods were thought to be more cost-effective, but this study shows the ways in which the ear-hanging method can be more cost-efficient over a longer period of time.

Read the full article at PHYS.org

MASSACHUSETTS: Scallopers push to open northern edge of Georges Bank

July 31, 2025 — Coastal lawmakers and scallopers railed Wednesday against a decision fishing regulators made last year to keep closed the northern edge of Georges Bank, a thriving scallop ground that has been shuttered to commercial fishing since 1994.

“It’s singularly my most frustrating experience, as someone who thinks of the environment every day, but also worries about the economy minute to minute in my own district. It’s stunning to me how long — decades — this has been closed,” said Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford.

Montigny chaired a Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight hearing on Wednesday which explored the state of commercial sea scallop fisheries and regulations impacting the industry.

New Bedford is the largest port in the United States for sea scallop landings and revenue. Other ports in Massachusetts are important for smaller scallop vessels, including Gloucester, Provincetown, Barnstable and Chatham.

Last year, the New England Fishery Management Council voted against reopening the fishing grounds on the northern edge of George’s Bank, a shallow underwater plateau between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia that is rich in biodiversity and a known spawning ground for Atlantic cod and habitat for scallops. The Light reported that Mayor Jon Mitchell was among those asking the council to reconsider opening it, citing headwinds for the region’s top fishery, including falling prices and fewer days at sea for fishermen.

The council voted not to continue discussions on reopening the area, as they said the high density of scallops there helps spawn other nearby scalloping grounds.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

MAINE: Maine OKs plans for state’s largest scallop farm

July 24, 2025 — A Maine company growing scallops in Penobscot Bay that wanted to expand its operations  nearly tenfold got a slightly reduced version of those plans approved by the state on Tuesday, more than three years after starting the process.

Vertical Bay is one of a handful of small Maine aquaculture companies growing scallops, a multi-year process using long vertical lines underneath the water. Its owner-operators, Belfast couple Andrew and Samantha Peters, applied for a 20-year, state-issued lease to increase their operation in the waters west of Hog Island from about four acres to roughly 41.

Scaling up would provide a model for other people interested in growing scallops in Maine and demonstrate how it can be profitable, Andrew Peters previously told the Bangor Daily News.

Peters didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

Industry Petition to Reopen Northern Edge Scallop Access Named as Top-Tier Deregulation Priority

May 14, 2025 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

A petition submitted by the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) to restore scallop fishing access to the Northern Edge of Georges Bank has been formally recognized by the federal government as a national deregulatory priority. In comments submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy included the FSF petition among just 21 proposals selected from more than 75,000 nationwide for special consideration. It was the only fisheries-related regulation identified and one of just two pertaining to the Department of Commerce.

This federal-level recognition may provide critical momentum for the New England Fishery Management Council to reopen consideration of access to the Northern Edge, a historically significant area with continued importance to the nation’s scallop fleet.

FSF advanced its April 28 petition through two regulatory channels.

First, it was submitted directly to the Secretary of Commerce under standard federal rulemaking procedures, requesting that the New England Fishery Management Council be directed to revisit current restrictions in the Closed Area II Habitat Management Area—commonly known as the Northern Edge. This followed the same legal pathway FSF used in 1998 to launch a successful effort expanding scallop access elsewhere on Georges Bank.

Second, FSF responded to OMB’s government-wide Request for Information (RFI) on deregulation, issued April 11, 2025[1]. This RFI was initiated in direct response to Executive Order 14219, signed by President Donald J. Trump on February 19, 2025, which mandated a comprehensive government-wide review of existing regulations to identify those that are unlawful, exceed statutory authority, or impose unnecessary burdens. The RFI invited the public to propose specific regulations for repeal or reform as part of this broader deregulatory effort.

FSF acknowledges that this opportunity was made possible by Executive Order 14219 and expresses its appreciation to President Trump for his leadership in creating a structured and responsive mechanism for regulatory reform.

By authorizing agencies to seek public input and reconsider outdated rules, the administration made it possible for affected industries such as scallop fishing to engage meaningfully in the federal decision-making process.

In its formal filing, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy highlighted the current regulation[2], which bars scallop fishing in the Northern Edge area. Advocacy noted that it had been contacted by a coalition of 156 small businesses in the scallop industry, which cited the adverse economic impacts of the closure. While the closure was originally intended to protect groundfish populations, Advocacy called on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to reexamine whether those conservation goals can be met without unnecessarily restricting scallop access.

SBA’s recommendation is notable because nearly all of the other deregulatory proposals included in its comments were national in scope. Northern Edge access was the only fisheries regulation named, and one of just two regulations from the entire Department of Commerce to receive this distinction. This singling out by the SBA is expected to further distinguish the FSF petition among the tens of thousands filed during the OMB’s open comment period.

The Office of Advocacy is uniquely empowered under the Regulatory Flexibility Act to represent small business concerns in the federal rulemaking process. Its endorsement of the FSF petition underscores both the economic significance of scallop access and the need for a more tailored, evidence-based approach to habitat protections that balances environmental objectives with sustainable harvesting.