Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Trump says he’ll reopen Northern Edge to scalloping; New Bedford may benefit more than Cape Cod

July 8, 2026 — South Coast scallopers are rejoicing at President Trump’s pledge, on Thursday, to reopen a prime scallop fishing area off Massachusetts.

But the process could take more than 18 months, and Cape Cod scallopers may not benefit as much as those in New Bedford.

“From an industry perspective, access to the Northern Edge would be a blessing,” said Eric Hansen, owner of two New Bedford scallop vessels. “The loss of resource and revenue for the scallop industry for the last 30 years has been huge.”

The Northern Edge, a section of Georges Bank, has been closed to scalloping since 1994.

Aubrey Church, policy director at the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, said some of the smaller commercial vessels on Cape Cod Cape are unlikely to be able to make the 15-hour trip to the Northern Edge.

Many of Cape Cod’s commercial fishing vessels are dayboats, meaning they go out and return on the same day.

Church said the alliance wants to hear more from its members before taking a position on access to the Northern Edge.

“Understanding how different sectors of the fleet may be affected will be an important part of our discussions with members,” she said.

Read the full article at NHPR

Trump administration promises to make U.S. ‘dominant seafood leader’

July 7, 2026 — Advocates for the U.S scallop fleet hailed President Trump’s declaration of a “National Scallops Day” July 2, leading a list of NOAA Fisheries actions the administration says are aimed to “stabilize markets, improve access, enhance economic profitability, and prevent closures.”

Measures for the lucrative Northeast and Mid-Atlantic scallop fishery headed priorities announced by NOAA Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler. The changes will open the Northern Edge of Georges Bank to the scallop fleet, and advance “permit stacking” on scallop vessels, two reforms the industry’s Sustainable Scallop Fund has sought for years.

“Permit stacking will let scallop permit holders consolidate operations, cut costs, and fish more safely and efficiently. Opening the Northern Edge returns the fleet to a productive, well-managed resource that has stayed closed for years,” the group says.

“We are grateful to President Trump and his team for listening to the men and women of the scallop fleet and acting on their behalf,” said SSF president John Lees. “Permit stacking and Northern Edge access will make our fishery more competitive, more sustainable, and more valuable to the American families who depend on it. This is what it looks like when Washington puts American fishermen first.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

President Trump Declares ‘National Scallops Day’ as NOAA Prioritizes Opening Northern Edge and Permit Stacking

July 2, 2026— President Donald Trump declared “National Scallops Day,” tying the designation to a NOAA Fisheries announcement that the agency has prioritized expanding access for the Atlantic sea scallop fleet on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank and advancing a long-sought permit-stacking policy.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the action would “open up the Northern Edge of Georges Bank to Scallops Fishing,” predicting “millions more pounds” of wild scallops for American consumers and more jobs in East Coast fishing ports, including New Bedford, Massachusetts; Cape May, New Jersey; and Norfolk, Virginia. This comes as part of a broader Trump Administration effort to expand domestic seafood production and reverse restrictions imposed by prior administrations.  

The President’s statement came the same day NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler released a region-by-region list of regulatory priorities under Executive Order 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” In the New England section of that announcement, NOAA listed two major scallop actions: “Implement rotational access for the Northern Edge scallop fishery” and “Implement Scallop Permit Stacking.” Administrator Piñeiro Soler described them as “regulatory actions we have prioritized.” 

The April 2025 executive order directed the Commerce Department and NOAA Fisheries to work with regional fishery management councils to reduce regulatory burdens, increase domestic seafood production, improve access, stabilize markets, and enhance profitability for U.S. fishing businesses. NOAA said Thursday it received input from 787 individuals and organizations before prioritizing the actions announced by Piñeiro Soler.  

“The Fisheries Survival Fund, which has represented Atlantic scallop fishermen since 1998, has been working throughout the Executive Order process to reopen the Northern Edge. We very much appreciate President Trump’s and NOAA’s directive to NMFS and the Council to reopen this historically vital fishing ground after 35 years,” stated Eric Hansen, chairman of the Fund’s board.  “We will work hard to help make a productive, responsible opening become a reality. To the fleet, please be aware the area is not currently open, but we are thankful the process has begun.”

The Sustainable Scalloping Fund, a scallop industry group active in Washington and New Bedford, praised the announcement, saying the opening of the Northern Edge and the move toward permit stacking were two reforms it had sought since its inception.

“Permit stacking will let scallop permit holders consolidate operations, cut costs, and fish more safely and efficiently,” the group said in a statement. “Opening the Northern Edge returns the fleet to a productive, well-managed resource that has stayed closed for years.”

SSF President John Lees said the decision reflected direct engagement between fishermen and the White House. The group said Lees had carried the issues to senior White House officials and advocated for them directly with the president.

“We are grateful to President Trump and his team for listening to the men and women of the scallop fleet and acting on their behalf,” Lees said. “Permit stacking and Northern Edge access will make our fishery more competitive, more sustainable, and more valuable to the American families who depend on it. This is what it looks like when Washington puts American fishermen first.”

The Northern Edge of Georges Bank has been the subject of a long-running debate within New England fisheries management. The New England Fishery Management Council previously considered a framework action that would have revised habitat management restrictions and created rotational scallop access areas in the region. Council materials described the Northern Edge as roughly including the Closed Area II Habitat Management Area and the adjacent Northern Flank of Georges Bank, and said the habitat restrictions there were intended to minimize fishing impacts on essential fish habitat for multiple species, including scallops, groundfish, herring, monkfish and skates.  

Council materials also reflected concerns that opening the area could affect long-term scallop yield because dense scallop aggregations on the Northern Edge may serve as a larval source for other scallop grounds, including the Southern Flank of Georges Bank, the Great South Channel and Nantucket Lightship.  

NOAA’s announcement did not provide a detailed schedule for implementation, catch projections, or final management measures for the Northern Edge or permit stacking. Piñeiro Soler said some priorities may implicate other statutory requirements and that NOAA Fisheries would work with the councils to determine how to advance them.  

New Bedford weighs scallop permit-stacking as fleet sits idle

December 10, 2025 — To walk down New Bedford’s Pier 3 is to view a time capsule of the historic fishing town, memorialized not just by plaques and monuments but by the decades-old, rusted trawlers parked stern to stern on the cramped commercial harbor.

By design, these boats spend more time tied up at the docks than they do on the open ocean. Some scallopers are trying to put them back on the water.

“You wouldn’t dare keep a plane grounded for 30, 40, or 300-plus days,” New Bedford scallop vessel manager and owner Tony Alvernaz said. “Boats are no different.”

For decades, scalloping permits have been tied to individual vessels, while regulations limit the number of days a particular boat can spend at sea. Now, a new proposal would allow owners of two or more boats to “stack” their scalloping permits on a single boat. With permit-stacking, a crew could take multiple trips on one vessel, and the boats’ owner could either sell or refurbish the oldest members of their fleet. Permit-stacking already exists in other fisheries, but for decades it has languished among scallopers, who fear stacking could lead to further industry consolidation.

In October, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell penned a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expressing early support for the new proposal to allow permit-stacking in scallop fisheries.

“Even the casual observer can’t help but notice that we have lots of boats in the dock,” Mitchell told The Light in an interview. “It’s pretty crowded, and so people wonder, ‘Well, why are they all there?’ Part of the answer is, ‘Well, they don’t fish all that much.’”

Mitchell’s endorsement of scallop permit-stacking contrasts with his position on a similar question three years ago.

In 2022, the New England Fisheries Management Council overwhelmingly struck down a similar proposal that would have allowed scallop permit holders to lease their scalloping permits to other vessel owners, essentially “stacking” multiple permits on a temporary basis.

Critics at the time worried that leasing would lead to greater industry consolidation as larger ventures bought up licenses, crowding out independent scallopers. Others worried that vessel owners would pass down the additional costs of leasing to their crews, as had already happened in the groundfish industry.

Mitchell was among those strongly opposed to the 2022 leasing proposal, traveling two hours to the Council meeting in Gloucester to speak out against it.

“This is at least the third time in the last decade that the largest ownership interests in the scallop industry have urged the Council to undo the bedrock one-boat-one-permit rule to reduce costs and increase profits,” Mitchell said in his 2022 testimony. “I oppose the proposal because it will inevitably lead to consolidation in the industry, and thereby reduce the industry’s workforce and lower demand for shore side services.”

What changed in three years? For one, the future of the scallop industry looks very different now than it did three years ago.

The 2022 leasing proposal came during a marked boom period for New Bedford scallopers. Three years later, scallop numbers have plummeted far below the brief heyday experienced in 2022, let alone the industry’s glory days of single-boat owner-operators in the 1990s. A growing starfish population — one of the sea scallop’s main predators — and overly optimistic resource management are the main causes of the scallop decline.

Under current conditions, the boats at Pier 3 will spend over 300 days of the next year at the docks, fishing for fewer days to catch fewer shellfish.

In his October letter, Mitchell outlined what he felt was different about the current proposal and why he was less concerned about consolidation under the new stipulations. His main concern, he said, was that the current situation — boats lined up rafted one against another — was untenable.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman