Saving Seafood

NOAA slowdowns and new science delay the usual ‘scramble’ to set fishing catch limits

March 26, 2025 — The start of this year’s commercial fishing season could be a bust for fishermen who catch groundfish species like cod, haddock and flounder.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has yet to approve new catch limits for the season slated to open May 1. People in the fishing industry said the annual process has been delayed by changes to the science used to measure cod populations, and the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency.

Scallop fishery regulations also won’t be finalized by the season’s start on April 1. But since there aren’t new regulatory strategies under consideration like with cod, there are default catch limits in place for scallops. Scallopers are facing just 10 fewer fishing days at the start of the season.

Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney representing the Sustainable Scalloping Fund, said this “doesn’t have much of an impact” on the fishery. He’s expecting new limits to be approved within a week of the start of the season.

Scalloper Eric Hansen of New Bedford said he’s cautiously optimistic about an approval coming soon. He remembers a similar slowdown when the Biden administration took over four years ago.

“ If history repeats itself, it won’t be catastrophic,” he said. “And that’s a big if.”

Read the full article at wbur

Scallops: NEFMC Signs Off on Framework 39 with Measures for Fishing Year 2025; May 15th Delayed Opening for Access Areas

December 5, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council took final action on Framework Adjustment 39 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan when it met December 3-5, 2024 in Newport, Rhode Island. The framework contains specifications and measures to guide the 2025 scallop fishing year, which begins on April 1. The action also includes default measures for fishing year 2026.

The framework must be reviewed, approved, and implemented by NOAA Fisheries before taking effect. Here are the Council’s recommended measures.

FULL-TIME LIMITED ACCESS VESSELS: The Council supported allocating full-time permit holders two access area trips in 2025 – one trip to Scallop Access Area I and the other trip to Scallop Access Area II. The Council endorsed a 12,000-pound trip limit, equating to 24,000 pounds total per vessel, as well as 24 open-area days-at-sea for this component of the scallop fishery.

PART-TIME LIMITED ACCESS VESSELS: Part-time permit holders would be allocated one access area trip into either Scallop Access Area I or Scallop Access Area II with a 9,600- pound trip limit, as well as 9.6 open-area days-at-sea.

Read the full release from the New England Fishery Management Council

NEFMC: Scallop Research Set-Aside Program to Support 14 New Projects; Several 2024 Announcements Include Multi-Year Awards

May 2, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support 14 new projects that were selected from the 2024 RSA solicitation. Several awards will support multi-year research, including a four-year regional survey effort. The set-aside harvest is expected to generate $22 million in revenue. Of that total, $5 million will fund the targeted research and $17 million will compensate industry partners who harvest the set-aside scallops. To determine the award amounts, the price of sea scallops was projected to average $14 per pound of meats.

Council Priorities and Research Partners

Seven different institutions will lead the projects, partnering with fishermen, fishing businesses, and non-profit fishery research organizations. The new RSA projects address 2024-2025 research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council in June 2023. At that meeting, the Council asked NOAA Fisheries to modify the Scallop RSA Program to allow for longer-term RSA awards for regional survey work, which the agency accommodated in this latest round of funding with a four-year award. Other Council priorities are listed here on page 1. RSA-funded scallop surveys have been a long-standing priority. They have become increasingly important in: (1) providing information that directly helps scientists determine the status and distribution of the resource; and (2) guiding the Council in making management decisions for this valuable resource.

The new awards were announced on May 2, 2024 by the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) of NOAA Fisheries. The Council and NOAA Fisheries work together to support the Scallop Research Set-Aside Program. While the Council sets the research priorities, NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

Council Seeks Applicants for All 2023-2025 Advisory Panels; Wide Range of Monkfish, Groundfish, Rec Fishermen Needed

July 25, 2022 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is accepting applications from commercial and recreational fishermen, as well as other stakeholders, to serve on its advisory panels (APs) for the next three years. The term runs from January 2023 through December 2025. The application deadline is August 31, 2022.

The Council currently has nine active advisory panels that cover issues related to groundfish, recreational fishing for groundfish, Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic herring, monkfish, habitat, skates, whiting, and enforcement.

The Council jointly manages monkfish and spiny dogfish with the Mid-Atlantic Council. The Mid-Atlantic Council has the administrative lead for spiny dogfish and handles the advisory panel solicitation for that fishery, while the New England Council has the administrative lead for monkfish and conducts the Monkfish AP solicitation.

The Council strives to populate its advisory panels with members who: (1) have different areas of expertise; (2) use different gear types; (3) come from the full geographic range of the fishery; and (4) have varied social and economic perspectives.

Read the full release here

NEFMC Approves Scallop Leasing Scoping Document; Readies for Seven In-Person Meetings and Two Webinars

April 19, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold seven in-person scoping meetings and two webinars over the next two months to solicit public input on whether a leasing program is needed in the limited access component of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery.

The Council approved the scoping document during its April 12-14, 2022 hybrid meeting, which was held in Mystic, CT. In addition, the Council received short updates on:

Scoping Meetings Kick Off April 27th in Gloucester

The first scoping meeting for limited access leasing will be held on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 in Gloucester, Massachusetts at the Cruiseport beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Other in-person meeting locations run from New Bedford down to New Bern, North Carolina. The in-person meetings will not have a remote participation option, but two separate webinar scoping meetings are scheduled for June 17 and June 24, 2022.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

Sustainable Fisheries, Sustainable Seafood

April 19, 2022 — Every year on Earth Day, NOAA Fisheries joins citizens and organizations around the world in celebrating our planet and recognizing the need to care for our natural resources. After all, stewardship of our nation’s marine natural resources is the crux of NOAA Fisheries’ mission. It drives the work we do on Earth Day and every other day, too.

Thanks to world-class science, adaptive and accountable management, and dedicated enforcement, the United States is a global leader in responsible fisheries management. Regular assessments reveal that 80 percent of the stocks we monitor are at healthy sizes, and 92 percent are not subject to overfishing.

It’s taken decades of effort and investment, and the cooperation and sacrifice of U.S. fishermen, to get here. While our work continues, for Earth Day we can share some Earth optimism as we look back on our progress toward sustainable U.S. fisheries.

The Story of Sea Scallops

The first stock officially declared “rebuilt” following this new process was the Atlantic sea scallop. Decades of intense dredging in the scallop beds of Georges Bank and, later, the mid-Atlantic Bight had pushed sea scallop populations to the brink. In the early 1990s, managers shifted gears, implementing gear regulations, fishing effort restrictions, and limits on the number of participants.

In 1994, three large areas in Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals were closed to fishing to protect similarly stressed groundfish species. Since dredges can catch groundfish by accident, those areas were closed to scallop harvest, too. Soon after, additional areas in the mid-Atlantic were closed specifically to protect scallops. Scallops were formally placed in a 10-year rebuilding plan in 1997.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

Scallop Research Set-Aside Program to Support 15 Projects for 2022-2023; Focus on Surveys, Scallop Biology, and More

March 16, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support 15 new projects under the 2022- 2023 award cycle. The awards are expected to generate $3.8 million to fund the research and $12.5 million to compensate industry partners who harvest the set-aside scallops. In order to determine the award amounts, sea scallop price was projected to average $15 per pound.

Six different institutions will lead the projects, partnering with fishermen, fishing businesses, and non-profit fishery research organizations.

The 2022-2023 RSA projects address research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council in June 2021. The Council’s priorities focused on resource surveys, research on scallop biology and sea turtles, scallop recruitment supplementation, bycatch reduction, and gear research.

RSA-funded scallop surveys have been a long- standing priority and have become increasingly important in: (1) providing information that directly helps scientists determine the status and distribution of the resource; and (2) guiding the Council in making management decisions.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

Scallops: Council Receives Final Report on Evaluation of Area Management and Update on Timeline for Scoping on Leasing

February 7, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

The New England Fishery Management Council received short updates on numerous scallop-related issues during its February 1-3, 2022 webinar meeting and covered two items in greater depth. These focused on:

  • Recommendations contained in the final report on the Council’s evaluation of the rotational area management program for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery; and
  • A proposed timeline and initial strategy for conducting scoping meetings about limited access leasing.

Rotational Management: As part of its 2021 work priorities, the Council agreed to conduct an evaluation of the scallop fishery’s rotational area management program, which was established under Amendment 10 to the federal scallop plan. The evaluation focused on the 2015-2021 fishing years.

During its December 2021 meeting, the Council received a detailed presentation on the findings of the draft report. The presentation that the Council viewed during the February 2022 meeting underscored the final report’s recommendations.

The report states, “The findings suggest that the rotational management program has achieved the primary and secondary objectives outlined in Amendment 10,” adding, “there is continued room for improvement.” (See excerpts in box at right.)

The Council’s Scallop Advisory Panel and Scallop Committee will meet in March to review the report’s recommendations in detail and consider next steps. Keep tabs on the Council’s calendar for upcoming meeting dates.

Read the full release here

Scallop Research Set-Aside Proposals Sought

August 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries, in coordination with the New England Fishery Management Council, is soliciting proposals for the 2022-2023 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program.

Successful applicants are awarded pounds of scallops that have been “set aside” to pay for research expenses; no federal funds are provided. Researchers and fishermen partner to harvest awarded scallops, and the proceeds are used to fund the research and compensate fishing industry partners.

The New England Fishery Management Council sets the research priorities, and NOAA Fisheries administers the competition, oversees awarded projects, and oversees set-aside harvest activities.

The research set-aside programs are designed to inform resource management decisions and improve stock assessments. Proposals are evaluated for scientific merit and for relevance to scallop fishery management.

For more information on the program and how to apply, please visit our funding opportunity announcement.

Questions?

Jonathon Peros, New England Fishery Management Council

Ryan Silva, NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office

US Atlantic scallop prices high as rotational closures reduce supply, boost production costs

June 24, 2021 — The Atlantic sea scallop fishery – predominantly centered around ports in New Bedford, Massachusetts; Point Judith, Rhode Island; Cape May, New Jersey; and Norfolk, Virginia – is the largest and most valuable wild scallop fishery in the world. Projected landings in the federal fishery are expected to be around 40 million pounds in 2021.

“The allocation was developed using survey data from 2020, and then projecting growth, harvest, natural mortality and recruitment,” Jonathon Peros, fishery analyst and scallop lead at New England Fishery Management Council, said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source