Saving Seafood

Offshore wind development could hinder scallop fishing, new study reports

January 15, 2026 — Just as the Trump administration abruptly halted five offshore wind projects in December, a new study aims to quantify the impacts the controversial industry may have on commercial scallop fishers.

The study, published mid-December, found that while offshore wind may not change scallop fishing much — causing only an estimated 4% increase in travel time — even that amount of change could still leave a major impact on the highly lucrative and sensitive industry.

“It’s kind of like death by a thousand cuts,” said Sarah Borsetti, paper author and fisheries researcher at Rutgers University’s Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory. “With all of the other things facing the industry, this is another thorn in the side.”

Using a model that previously predicted changes in the surfclam industry, Borsetti and her team sought to simulate fishermen’s real behavior in and around offshore development sites. To make her model as accurate as possible, her team interviewed commercial scallopers across the Eastern Seaboard — but primarily in the industry hub of New Bedford.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

As water temperatures rise, Rutgers scientists breed tougher shellfish

February 23, 2021 — Over the last half-century, global sea surface temperatures have been on the rise, but in the last decade they have increased at an accelerated rate.

New Jersey’s coastal waters, both along the Atlantic Coast and Delaware Bay, have been no exception. More alarming, recent research indicates that sea surface temperatures in the Northeast are warming two to three times faster than the global average. For instance, in 2012, water temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic reached the highest levels ever seen in over 150 years of recorded observations.

This rapid increase in water temperature is already influencing New Jersey’s marine species. Breeding habits, ranges and growth rates are adjusting as the environment in which they have evolved to thrive has changed at an unnatural pace. For the commercial fishermen and women whose livelihoods depend on the state’s fishery, particularly those who are only just beginning to experiment with shellfish aquaculture, warmer waters mean higher operational risk.

A new study from the Rutgers University Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, which has been monitoring New Jersey’s shellfish stocks for more than a century, is working to combat the impacts of climate change by selectively breeding bay scallops and surf clams that can grow faster and tolerate higher water temperatures.

Read the full story at NJ Spotlight News