Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: Scallop Disaster Declared, But Some Hope for 2022

July 22, 2021 — Ask any bayman, and all would agree that the bay scallop fishery in the Peconic Bay estuary system in the past two years was a total calamity. As such, it was no surprise to learn that the United States Department of Commerce recently declared the events of 2019-20 a fishery disaster.

The declaration makes the fishery eligible for disaster assistance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Baymen may also qualify for disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration, according to the Department of Commerce. The department has balances remaining from previously appropriated fishery disaster assistance and will determine the appropriate allocation for the Peconic Bay fishery, which can also include funding of habitat restoration and additional research efforts.

“Fisheries are essential to our communities and economy, and we want to ensure America is in a position to remain competitive on the global stage,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “These determinations allow us to lend a helping hand to the fishing families and communities that have experienced very real and difficult setbacks in the last few years.”

But there is also some good news, for now, regarding the popular bivalve. While it’s still early, there have been no signs of a die-off this summer among scallops that were spawned last year, according to Stephen Tettelbach, a Long Island University ecology professor who heads Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Peconic Bay Scallop Restoration Program. Dr. Tettelbach’s team conducts periodic dives of the bottomland in several locations during the year to check on the status of the growing scallops.

Dr. Tettelbach was equally enthused about the number of larval scallops in local waters. “We did the first sampling of our larval spat collectors last Monday and saw the largest scallop set in the last 17 years,” he said. “There are small bugs all over the bays.” Small or newly-hatched scallops are commonly called “bugs.”

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

NEW YORK: Study finding early signs of hope for Peconic scallop fishery

July 16, 2021 — Scientists studying the early stages of bay scallop growth are finding encouraging signs this year, after two years of scallop die-offs that recently led the federal government to declare a disaster in the Peconic Bay fishery.

Scallops can lay up to 2 million eggs when they spawn in the period of June to August, and this year’s larval scallops will go on to make up the breeding stock for next summer’s spawn.

An expanded survey of scallops being funded by New York state and conducted by the Cornell Cooperative Extension and Stony Brook University is finding higher levels of larval scallops than has been seen in 17 years, said Stephen Tettelbach, a shellfish ecologist for Cornell.

“It’s way beyond anything we’ve ever seen in terms of larval settlement,” said Tettelbach. “It shattered all records we’ve seen in 17 years by far.”

Just as encouraging, Tettelbach said, researchers haven’t seen the summer die-offs of adult scallops that they they saw in the previous two years, a die-off that amounted to 50% of the population by the end of June and 100% in some areas by the end of July. “So far we haven’t seen any big die-offs,” he said.

Read the full story at Newsday

NEW YORK: Peconic Bay Scallop Die-Off On Long Island Leads To Federal Disaster Declaration

July 13, 2021 — Federal regulators have declared a fishery disaster following a massive scallop die-off over the last two years in eastern Long Island.

Nearly 90% of Peconic Bay scallops died off because of parasitic disease, an invasive predator and warming waters due to climate change.

Barley Dunne, who runs the shellfish hatchery in East Hampton, said he hopes sets of scallops can make a comeback.

“Last year, there was a huge set from Flanders in Riverhead all the way out to Montuak. And right now there are tons of beautiful 1-year-old bay scallops at the bottom. So, the big question is whether they are going to make it through the summer. Because that’s when the die-off is occurring,” Dunne said.

Read the full story at WSHU

NEW YORK: Peconic Bay declared a fishery disaster following scallop die-off in recent years

July 12, 2021 — Peconic Bay was one of four fisheries to be declared a fishery disaster following the “near-unprecedented” Peconic Bay scallop die-off of 2019 and subsequent problems in 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced on June 29.

The determination makes the fisheries eligible for disaster assistance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They may also qualify for disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration, according to the Department of Commerce. The department has balances remaining from previously appropriated fishery disaster assistance and will determine the appropriate allocation for Peconic Bay as well as the other locations in Washington and Alaska, a press release noted.

“Fisheries are essential to our communities and economy and we want to ensure America is in a position to remain competitive on the global stage,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “These determinations allow us to lend a helping hand to the fishing families and communities that have experienced very real and difficult setbacks in the last few years.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in December 2019 calling for federal action to help New York’s scallop fishery following the Peconic Bay die-off.

Read the full story at the Riverhead News-Review

NEW YORK: LI fishermen see tough days ahead as NYC restaurants back in lockdown

December 21, 2020 — With New York City restaurants back in lockdown, Long Island fishermen once again face the loss of one of the biggest markets for their fish as a choppy 2020 comes to a close.

A small measure of relief is being offered with federal stimulus finds, but fishermen have only till year’s end to apply.

Fishermen in the spring saw most wholesale prices tumble with restaurant closures statewide, then regain as summer opened outdoor dining and limited capacity at restaurants. The latest closure comes atop other setbacks, including the die-off for the second year in a row of Peconic Bay scallops, the sharp decline in the oyster industry, also tied to restaurant closures, and pressures such as ever-changing fishing quotas.

Read the full story at Newsday

NEW YORK: Peconic Bay scallops die-off tied to newly detected parasite

February 4, 2020 — The catastrophic die-off of Peconic Bay scallops in eastern Long Island waters may be tied to a previously undetected parasite that can infect the kidneys of adult and juvenile scallops, state regulators reported Friday.

The specific parasitic organism, known as coccidian parasite, was discovered in kidney tissue of all 32 scallops collected and sampled from Shelter Island’s Hay Beach last November, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said. Some scallops had “extensive damage” to renal tubes, enough to kill the most heavily infected, the DEC said.

The agency, working with Stony Brook University’s Marine Animal Disease Laboratory, said the parasite “represents a significant threat” to the scallops, but cautioned that “further research is needed” to study how widely the parasite may have been dispersed, its life cycle and rate of infection before it can be said with certainty that it was the direct cause of the die-off.

“This is a new factor that scientists think may have a prevalent effect,” a DEC spokeswoman said.

Biologists last year theorized a combination of factors may have spurred the catastrophic collapse of Peconic Bay scallops, which saw mortality rates of from 90% to 100% in many eastern waterways.

Read the full story at Newsday

NEW YORK: Cuomo requests federal disaster declaration, aid for scallop die-off

December 6, 2019 — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday requested the U.S. Department of Commerce issue a disaster declaration for the Peconic Bay scallop fishery, following a catastrophic die-off of scallops in East End waterways.

An immediate declaration of a disaster is needed, he said, to provide “direct economic relief for the New York fishing industry.”

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Cuomo requested that the federal government formally declare a fishery failure in the bay scallop fishery in the Peconic Bay Estuary due to a “fishery resource disaster.”

Cuomo did not site a figure for economic losses or impacts tied to the die-off.

The move comes as researchers and biologists from the state, Suffolk County, Cornell University and Stony Brook University gathered Friday night at Stony Brook’s Southampton campus to detail the latest information about the die-off, which was first recognized as the scallop season opened Nov. 5.

Read the full story at Newsday

Biologists suspect New York bay scallops are latest victim of warmer waters

November 20, 2019 — The famed bay scallops of eastern Long Island came back after their near-death experience of brown tides only after years of a dedicated restoration effort. Now biologists are worried the fishery may be at risk with increasing water temperatures.

New York baymen are seeing the worst Peconic Bays scallop season in years, after summer 2019 water temperatures that reached a sustained July peak of 84 degrees in some places.

The scallops were devastated by severe brown tides for more than a decade starting in 1984 and were nurtured back with many years of work by scientists, baymen, aquaculture experts and volunteers. The shellfish face other threats like being eaten by cownose rays and other predators. But biologists think this situation is different.

“I do believe this one in dues to high water temperatures and low dissolved oxygen that may have coincided with spawning,” Long Island University professor Steve Tettlebach who works with the Cornell Cooperative Extension told National Fisherman. “So, the combination of these stressors is the most plausible explanation for the die-off of adults.”

The damage became evident during the Cornell fall scallop survey when workers found thousands of empty shells, and baymen came home largely empty-handed from the fall season.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NEW YORK: Likely Scallop Die-Off Raises Concerns On Long Island

November 11, 2019 — Scallop season started this week, but fisheries on eastern Long Island say scallops in the Peconic Bay may have died off over the summer.

Roger Tollefsen, former executive director of the New York Seafood Council, an industry group in the Hampton Bays, says scallops depend on nutrients in the water to survive.

Harmful algal blooms can diminish the population, but Tollefsen says that some algae can help create a healthier ecosystem.

“We should be nurturing the good algae in our bays as opposed to simply trying to eliminate the ones which we call harmful.”

Read the full story at WSHU

NEW YORK: Peconic Bay Scallop Season A Wash: ‘The Worst In 15 Years’

November 6, 2019 — Phones were ringing at seafood shops and restaurants across the North Fork and East End Monday with hungry diners hoping to celebrate the first day of Peconic Bay scallop season.

But for those who’ve waited months for that much-heralded first taste of sweet goodness, the news was grim: This year’s season is, quite simply, a bust.

Scallop fisherman Kevin Mellenburg, out on opening day, reflected on the turn of events. “This is the worst harvest season we’ve seen in the last decade,” he said. With so few scallops to be had, he said, “Prices will be through the roof.” He got about three bushels Monday, he said, and his take was one of the top three highest on Peconic Bay, he said.

Kathie Cibulski and her fiance Henry Romanowski of Laurel confirmed the bad news after a day out on the water. “There are a lot of dead shells out there. It’s not like it usually is.” On Monday, she said, Romanowski brought in about 3.5 bushes. “Usually on opening day he can get up to about 10 or so,” she said.

Read the full story at Patch