November 3, 2020 — The bay-scallop season on Long Island’s East End started Monday, but Braun Seafood Co., which serves 700 restaurants and a large retail base market, has yet to take in even a pound of the prized shellfish.
“It’s a shame,” said Ken Homan, the company’s president. “Everybody needs that extra buck, particularly with the economy the way it’s been this year. But it’s a bust.”
As reported in Newsday on Sunday, the Peconic Bay scallop fishery appears to have suffered another catastrophic die-off, idling scores of baymen and recreational scallopers and leaving another $1.6 million hole in an economy already reeling from COVID-battered restaurants.
Local fish markets, which saw the bottom fall out of their businesses during spring lockdowns, had been looking to scallops to help shore up a difficult year that saw many bounce back sharply during the summer, mainly on the back of increased retail business and restaurants opening outdoors.