January 20, 2021 — Maine fishery regulators have begun implementing scallop fishing closures to try to protect the population of the valuable shellfish.
Maine’s winter scallop fishery is one of the most lucrative in the state. The state uses localized fishing closures to allow young scallops to grow to maturity.
The closures that went into effect this week apply to the Englishman Bay, Addison, Isle au Haut and Swans Island areas.
January 12, 2021 — French fishmongers and seafood factories are suspending orders from Britain and battling to salvage just-in-time supply chains, after they were upended by post-Brexit red tape that impedes next-day delivery of salmon and lobster from Britain to Europe.
Importers in Boulogne-sur-Mer told Reuters that deliveries were sometimes being held up because the Latin names of fish species were incorrectly entered on papers.
Other reasons for delays included sanitary certificates missing the required stamps and French agents adopting a zero-tolerance approach to mistakes in the cumbersome process.
The result is a chaotic breakdown in supply chains from the outer reaches of the British Isles to the northern French port of Boulogne, which used to see Scottish langoustine and scallops in French shops just over a day after they were harvested.
Deliveries were taking at least one or two days longer than previously, if they got through at all.
January 12, 2021 — By ending a 27-year-old union, Brexit was sure to come with some growing pains. But with less than two weeks under their belt, some in the Scottish fishing industry are wondering if what they’re feeling is more akin to death throes.
As Reuters reported on Friday, the additional red tape caused by the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU has led to major issues for the Scottish fishing industry which has relied on seamless next-day transport of fresh seafood to customers on the European mainland. Since Brexit became official on January 1, shipping Scottish langoustines, scallops, oysters, lobsters, and mussels to places like France, Belgium, and Spain has suddenly been slower and more expensive—and some businesses wonder if their models will remain sustainable.
Due to new paperwork like health certificates and customs declarations, one-day deliveries were reportedly taking three days or more. And DFDS Scotland—a major logistics company for the industry—admitted to a mix of IT and paperwork issues. “These businesses are not transporting toilet rolls or widgets. They are exporting the highest quality, perishable seafood which has a finite window to get to markets in peak condition,” Donna Fordyce, chief executive of Seafood Scotland, told the BBC over the weekend. “If the window closes, these consignments go to landfill.”
And speaking of paperwork, one Scottish exporter told Reuters that paperwork alone could cost him over $800 a day. “I’m questioning whether to carry on,” he explained. “If our fish is too expensive our customers will buy elsewhere.”
January 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
A trait fishermen and scientists share is adaptability: the trait required to think on your feet, be comfortable with uncertainty, and repurpose resources when necessary.
“Adaptable” is a word that perfectly describes Marsden Brewer, a third-generation commercial fisherman, who is also a scallop farmer and owner of PenBay Farmed Scallops. Brewer’s business is the result of his 20-year effort, as well as techniques learned through Maine’s enduring friendship with its sister state, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. His three-and-a-quarter acre Stonington, Maine, farm is the first of its kind in Penobscot Bay.
“Princess” Scallops: A New England Locavore’s Delight
The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of the most valuable in the United States. While wild caught scallops have shells four inches across or larger and you only eat the adductor muscle, Brewer sells a smaller, whole-animal product. He offers three sizes:
Whole scallops are a delicacy prepared by chefs at restaurants in Maine and as far away as Colorado and Arizona. Brewer is not competing with the wild scallop fishery, but bringing a new local seafood to market. He has led other fishermen to farm scallops as a way to diversify their income in a changing environment.
January 4, 2021 — People enjoy scallops in Oban. “We can’t get enough of them to satisfy demand,” smiles Carol Watt, whose family business has been selling fish for more than a century in the port city of Argyll.
Watt explains how she likes to cook the mollusks: pan-fried and eaten with pancetta, Italian bacon, as a line of masked shoppers forms outside her tiny mustard-yellow shack.
Watt beams with excitement as she shows off a tray of shucked scallops, palm-sized, pale, fleshy slices with the fiery red roe still holding on, which some customers find too spicy, wearing an apron emblazoned with a species-rich school of fish.
In the past, scallops, often referred to simply as “clams” in Scotland, were never so common. In 1960, the Scottish ports landed just sixty tons of the species. There were 15,000 tons in 2019, down 2% from 2018 but still worth almost £ 36 million.
The boom, however, has sparked an often bitter conflict about how scallops, which grow on the seabed, are harvested between environmentalists and the fishing industry.
Some “scallops” are lifted from the sea sustainably by divers, who charge a premium for doing so.
December 22, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council met December 1-3, 2020 by webinar and covered a wide range of issues. In addition to its actions on scallops, groundfish, and skates, here are a few highlights.
EBFM: The Council reviewed the history of its work on ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM) and thoroughly debated its next steps. Following this discussion, the Council voted to keep EBFM on its 2021 list of priorities and to:
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.
December 18, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council is soliciting applicants to fill two vacancies on its Scallop Advisory Panel (AP). These are midterm appointments that will run through December 2022. The application deadline is Friday, January 15, 2021.
Advisory panel members reflect a wide range of expertise covering different gear types, user groups, geographic locations, and social and economic perspectives.
“We’re looking for applicants who understand the scallop fishery and are ready to commit to an active role on the AP,” said Council Executive Director Tom Nies. “We recognize that being an AP member can be challenging and sometimes time-demanding, but the Council benefits from the expertise of its AP members and genuinely appreciates their involvement in the development of our actions.”
December 18, 2020 — The United States’ scallop catch is likely to decline by more than a fifth in the coming year, federal regulators have said.
The catch is predicted to come in at about 40 million pounds (18.1 million kilograms), the New England Fishery Management Council said in a statement. That’s a dip from a projected 51.6 million pounds (23.4 million kilograms) this year and 60.5 million pounds (27.4 million kilograms) in 2018.
The scallop fishery has benefited from a very large number of new scallops that began growing in 2012 and 2013, said Janice Plante, a spokesperson for the council. Those scallops are reaching the end of their lives, and that likely means fewer will eventually find their way to the docks, she said.
New Bedford, which has been the nation’s most valuable fishing port for 19 straight years, relies heavily on the scallop catch. In 2018, scallops accounted for 80 percent of the seafood landed in New Bedford.
New Bedford, which has been the nation’s most valuable fishing port for 19 straight years, relies heavily on the scallop catch. In 2018, scallops accounted for 80 percent of the seafood landed in New Bedford.
Despite the likely drop in catch, the scallop fishery remains strong, said Andrew Minkiewicz, a Washington attorney who works with fishing advocacy group Fisheries Survival Fund. The projected catch would still be more than any of the year from 2013 to 2015.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard Times
December 11, 2020 — The US Atlantic sea scallop fleet should be able to land 40 million pounds (18,143 metric tons) of scallops during the 2021 fishing year season, according to an announcement Thursday by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC).
That is about 23 percent lower than the 52 million pound (23,586 metric tons) projection for the 2020 season.
The 40-million-pound projection for 2021, would make the season’s catch the lowest since 2015, when 36.9 million pounds (16,737 metric tons) were harvested. From 2016 through 2020, landings have been above the 42 million-pound range.
Janice Plante, public affairs officer for the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) told IntraFish the decrease was not a surprise to the scallop fishery.
She noted the fishery has landed about 36.5 million pounds to date for scallops and that the landing prediction for 2020 was an overestimate.
She pointed out that several years of excellent fishing have been due to scallops coming up in the 2012 and 2013 class years that are now reaching “peak growth potential.”