Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Scallopalooza Returns to New Bedford With Bigger Crowds and a High-Stakes Shucking Contest

August 10, 2026 — Scallopalooza is back. The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is celebrating the fishing industry on Thursday, August 13 with the second annual Scallopalooza. The event is a three-hour party that features vendors, food, and music, plus the much-anticipated scallop-shucking contest to determine the best shucker in the area.

Joe Ritter, Programs Director at the FHC, visited Townsquare Sunday to promote the event. “It will be a smashing success,” Ritter said. “I’m calling it now.”

Last year’s Scallopalooza drew about 500 people to downtown New Bedford, but bigger crowds are anticipated this year, prompting organizers to make a small change in the event’s layout.

New Layout and Jumbotron Added for Bigger Crowds

This year’s shucking contest will move slightly from the FHC parking lot to Bethel and Elm Streets, with the downward slope of the street providing a type of amphitheater for spectators. There will also be a large Jumbotron screen located behind the stage to provide a closer look at the stage.

Read the full artilcle at WBSM

MASSACHUSETTS: Scallopalooza shucking contest returns to New Bedford

July 28, 2026 — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will once again celebrate the city’s iconic scallop fleet with the return of its annual Scallopalooza Scallop Shucking Contest during August AHA! Night on Thursday, Aug. 13.

The free community event will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Bethel Street in front of the Fishing Heritage Center, bringing together commercial fishermen, seafood lovers, local businesses, and families for an evening centered on New Bedford’s scallop industry.

The highlight of the evening begins at 6:30 p.m., when 15 local scallop fishermen will compete for the title of New Bedford’s best scallop shucker and a championship trophy.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: Beaufort sculpture will honor Black fishermen vital to menhaden fishing industry

July 28, 2026 — The importance of Beaufort’s menhaden fishing industry and the significant role African-Americans played in that history will be honored with a new life-sized work of art.

“Menhaden Tales” is a bronze sculpture that will be gifted to the town by Arts in Beaufort, a local non-profit. The sculpture of a fisherman and the accompanying bench he will sit on are meant to commemorate the contributions of African Americans to Beaufort’s historic menhaden fishing industry, while providing an artistic photo opportunity for the public.

The sculpture will be accompanied by a seven minute audio clip narrated by a former local fisherman, Wardell Johnson, which can be accessed through a QR code leading to the Arts in Beaufort website, https://www.artsinbeaufortnc.org/listen. Though there will be no speaker on site to listen to the audio through, the narrative can be accessed by way of a cell phone and enjoyed at the listener’s leisure.

At their June 17 meeting, the Beaufort’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board unanimously voted to recommend the acceptance of the sculpture and its placement in John Newton Park, in the mulched area where a picnic table currently sits

Beaufort was once nicknamed “Fishtown,” a moniker that originated during the years when the menhaden fishery dominated the local economy and the majority of the work was done by local Black residents.

Read the full article at NEWS-TIMES