December 5, 2015 — Fishermen in Maine’s lucrative scallop fishery say this year’s season could be disrupted somewhat by a lack of mooring space in one of the state’s most important fishing grounds.

Maine scallops were worth nearly $7.5 million in 2014 – the most in more than 20 years and by far the most since the industry recovered from a near-collapse in the mid-2000s. The richest scallop fishing grounds in the state are in Cobscook Bay on the northeastern coast, an area that fishermen said suffers from a lack of places to tie boats this year.

The collapse of the Eastport breakwater, which also damaged docked scalloping boats, contributed to the lack of space, scallop fisherman Alex Todd said. The loss of space in Eastport led to residual lack of moorings in nearby communities, he said.

However, Todd said he still expects a productive season, as Maine scallops have sold for high prices in recent years. The scallops, which are prized in the culinary world, sold for nearly $13 per pound at the dock last year, slightly edging the much larger Massachusetts fleet for the highest price per pound among states with a significant scallop fishery.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald