April 25, 2016 — A quandary over scallop rules has two groups of fishermen in Maine at odds over the increasingly lucrative shellfish.
Kristan Porter, 46, is an independent fisherman who catches lobsters for most of the year with his boat “Brandon Jay.” But for additional income, for five months each year, he and the two other men on his boat have begun collecting scallops.
But a larger than usual harvest of scallops this year in the northern Gulf of Maine and the competitive price that they demand has brought a larger number of boats than usual. Porter’s boat and others are limited to collect 200 pounds of scallops each trip until the boats reach 70,000 pounds. But other boats that have permits distributed in the 1990s are allowed to haul up to 40 million pounds within the 34 days they are permitted in the area.
The problem is exacerbated as the demand for scallops has evolved from just another mollusk to a delicacy in fine dining.