Saving Seafood

Reminder: The Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Season Begins April 1

March 2, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Activity in the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) scallop fishery has steadily increased over the last few years. The Northeast Division of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement recognizes that many vessels relocate to the area for the season and may not be familiar with all of the federal scallop regulations.

Permit Renewal

All vessels fishing for scallops must have an active NGOM or Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) permit. The easiest way to renew your scallop permit is to fill out your forms electronically through your Fish Online account

Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Requirements

All federally permitted NGOM and IFQ scallop vessels must have an operational Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). All trips must be declared through the vessel’s VMS prior to leaving port. The declaration for a NGOM trip should be SES-SCG-NGXDXX. In addition, all vessels must submit a Pre-Landing Report at least 6 hours before returning to port on each trip. For assistance with VMS requirements, please contact 978-281-9213.

Stellwagen Bank Scallop Closed Area

The Stellwagen Bank Closed Area is closed through fishing year 2021. This closure is to protect a substantial number of small scallops that have not recruited into the fishery.

Only One Landing Per Calendar Day

For example, if you complete a trip and land scallops midday on Monday, then depart for a second trip Monday afternoon, you cannot land scallops again until after midnight (i.e., Tuesday). However, you may return to harbor prior to midnight, but your vessel cannot land at any dock, land, or facility.

Selling to a Federally Permitted Dealer

Federally permitted vessels must sell to a federally permitted dealer. We understand COVID-19 may have impacted the market and many fishermen seek to sell directly to the consumer. However, to sell your scallops directly to the consumer you need a federal dealer permit. Please contact GARFO for questions and to obtain a federal dealer permit at 978-282-8438 or visit our website.

Read the full release here

ANALYSIS: Net Supply of Scallops Retreating Since 2018

March 1, 2021 — With a combined approach of effort limitation and rotating harvest areas, the Atlantic sea scallop is one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States and is the most valuable wild scallop fishery in the world. It is managed by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fisheries Management Plan, which maximizes scallop yields while protecting beds of young scallops.

Looking at the total net supply of scallops for 2020, considering domestic landings combined with imports, while deducting exports, the United States reports seeing fewer landings, slightly increased imports, and a decline in exports when compared to the previous year, resulting in a decline of our net supply by 15.6 percent or 12.6 million pounds less of product.  Our net supply calculation suggests an annual total of 67.7 million pounds in 2020 compared to 80.3 million in 2019. This retreat marks the lowest net supply on record since 2015 and the start of a downwards trend that began in 2018.

Read the full story at Seafood News

America’s largest scallop company sues New Bedford over waterfront expansion

February 22, 2021 — Roy Enoksen and his business partner own the largest scallop fleet in the world. Their 27 fishing vessels bring more than 80,000 pounds of seafood into New Bedford each day, employing more than 400 captains, fishermen and support staff.

But a construction project planned by the city’s port authority would cut off water access at one of Enoksen’s boat maintenance facilities.

A lawsuit filed by Enoksen last month has blown the lid off a simmering conflict between New Bedford and one of the largest employers along its waterfront. Enoksen owns multiple businesses that operate in the port, including Eastern Fisheries and Marine Hydraulics, a marine repair company that services his boats.

Mayor Jon Mitchell called the litigation “a veiled attempt to grab valuable land that belongs to the public for the purpose of enhancing the company’s already substantial profits.”

The proposed expansion of New Bedford’s North Terminal would cull more than six acres of fresh land from the harbor using sand dredged from the mouth of the Acushnet River. The dredging would create dozens of new spaces for commercial vessels and remove contaminated sediments that have turned the harbor into a federal Superfund site.

Read the full story at The Public’s Radio

MASSACHUSETTS: From boat to table: Family starts direct-to-consumer scallop business

February 22, 2021 — At the beginning of the pandemic and over 1,000 miles from New Bedford, Britt St. George and Madison Lees quarantined in Florida with their father, John Lees, founder of Mar-Lees Seafood and current president of New England Marine; their mother; and their significant others, Zack St. George and Edward Smith.

It was a time in which scallops were a part of nearly every conversation, Madison Lees said, and not just because their father is in the business. It was because the family business was growing.

Zack St. George and Smith are the guys behind The Scallop Guys, a new direct-to-consumer business selling scallops caught by Lees’ five New Bedford-based vessels.

Zack St. George, 30, said the pandemic gave them the extra motivation and time they needed to finally plan and launch the idea they’ve had for years.

They also figured it would be the perfect time to sell scallops directly to consumers online as restaurants were either closed or running at limited capacity, he said.

“Now or never, now is the time to do it,” Smith, 27, said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Brexit: UK fishermen fear losing their homes as export ban bites

February 22, 2021 — Since 1 January, the European Union has stopped British fishermen from selling oysters, scallops, clams, cockles and mussels, known as live bivalve molluscs (LBM), that are caught in so-called “Class B” waters.

The government says it is seeking an “urgent resolution”, while the European Commission told Sky News the ban, on health grounds, applies to all third countries and “is not a surprise” to the UK.

The Sailors Creek Shellfish company in Falmouth, Cornwall, has seen 99% of its business disappear.

Read the full story at SkyNews

MASSACHUSETTS: Panel: ocean acidification threatens shellfish sector

February 12, 2021 — As a result of climate change and direct human factors, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Massachusetts are becoming more acidic, making them a less friendly habitat for the shellfish that drive a key industry here.

With no action, many of the scallops, clams, mollusks and lobsters at the bottom of the ocean in the Gulf of Maine will begin to dissolve by 2060 and new ones will struggle to form, imperiling an industry that supports thousands of people in the Bay State, a special commission said in a report Tuesday.

The Special Legislative Commission on Ocean Acidification recommended that Massachusetts establish a broad ocean acidification monitoring system and funnel more money into existing programs that address some of the things that are making the ocean more acidic, like residential and agricultural runoff, septic discharges and the deterioration of natural wetlands.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

Maine’s richest scallop fishing grounds closed for year

February 12, 2021 — Maine fishing regulators are closing the state’s richest scallop fishing grounds in the coming days.

The state is closing Cobscook, Whiting and Dennys bays for the rest of the fishing season starting Sunday to help conserve the scallop population, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said Friday. Cobscook Bay is home to some of the most productive scallop fishing in the state.

Scallops may still be harvested by drag boats only on Feb. 15 and by divers only on Feb. 20, the marine department said. The St. Croix River, another key scallop fishing area, will remain open until further notice, the department said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Report: Shellfish industry under threat as oceans grow more acidic

February 11, 2021 — Carbon emissions and wastewater are making the ocean more acidic, an accelerating chemical reaction that could threaten the ability of young scallops, oysters and lobsters to survive to maturity, according to a report published by the Massachusetts legislature on Tuesday.

A coalition of scientists, conservationists and representatives from the seafood industry found that a third of mollusks could be wiped out within 80 years if ocean waters continue to acidify at current rates. The effect on lobsters and crabs is less clear, though they are suspected to be more resilient.

“We’re running out of time before the consequences of ocean acidification become truly catastrophic,” said State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat from Cape Cod who co-founded the coalition.

The group’s 84-page report says that oceans have been acidifying since the industrial revolution by soaking up excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When the gas dissolves, it triggers a chain reaction that raises acidity and saps the ocean of carbonate ions that shellfish use to grow their shells, making them more vulnerable to predators and bruising waves.

It’s hardly the first time scientists have predicted doom for New England’s seafood industry, but the report found rising ocean acidity is threatening scallops, the very species that fishermen in New Bedford and other nearby ports turned to to survive an earlier ecological catastrophe: the overfishing of cod.

Read the full story at The Public’s Radio

MASSACHUSETTS: Panel: Ocean acidification threatens lucrative shellfish sector

February 10, 2021 — As a result of climate change and direct human factors, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Massachusetts are becoming more acidic, making them a less friendly habitat for the shellfish that drive a key industry here.

With no action, many of the scallops, clams, mollusks and lobsters at the bottom of the ocean in the Gulf of Maine will begin to dissolve by 2060 and new ones will struggle to form, imperiling an industry that supports thousands of people in the Bay State, a special commission said in a report Tuesday.

The Special Legislative Commission on Ocean Acidification recommended that Massachusetts establish a broad ocean acidification monitoring system and funnel more money into existing programs that address some of the things that are making the ocean more acidic, like residential and agricultural runoff, septic discharges and the deterioration of natural wetlands.

“Ocean acidification poses a serious threat to the Massachusetts state economy, and a potentially existential threat to coastal economies that rely heavily on shellfishing,” the commission wrote in the conclusions of its report. “Massachusetts should act to combat ocean acidification now, rather than later. Ocean acidification is expected to worsen significantly before the end of the century. Actions taken now will ultimately be more cost-effective and valuable than actions taken when significant damage has already occurred.”

Global carbon dioxide emissions absorbed by the ocean and nutrient pollution of waterways drive the pH level of areas of the ocean down, making the waters more acidic and limiting certain ions that help clams, oysters, scallops, mussels and lobsters form their protective shells.

Read the full story at WHDH

NEFMC Seeks Contractor to Support Scallop Survey Working Group

February 9, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is looking for an independent contractor to support and document the work of the Council’s new Scallop Survey Working Group (SSWG).  Letters of interest and supporting materials must be received no later than 8:00 a.m. on March 1, 2021.

WHAT IS THE SSWG:  The Council currently is in the process of forming the Scallop Survey Working Group.  The group will be composed of government and non-government experts with experience in Atlantic sea scallop surveys and related fields.  These experts will be tasked with addressing terms of reference (TORs) set for the group and providing recommendations in response to the TORs.  The SSWG will report directly to the Council, and the group’s recommendations will be forwarded by the Council to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

WHY IS THE COUNCIL DOING THIS:  The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States.  A central component of scallop management has been reliance on scallop surveys.  Previous survey reviews and stock assessments included recommendations for improving scallop surveys.  The Council agreed to form the Scallop Survey Working Group to address issues related to those recommendations.

WHAT ARE THE CONTRACTOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES:  The selected contractor will work with a representative of the Council and the Scallop Survey Working Group co-chairs on an array of issues from on or about March 22, 2021 through July 1, 2022.  A few of the contractor’s responsibilities include:

  • Supporting the development of draft TORs in advance of the working group’s first meeting;
  • Supporting working group meetings by developing detailed agendas, providing experienced meeting facilitators, and preparing written meeting summaries;
  • Creating a work plan to guide and assist the group in addressing the TORs; and
  • Preparing a final written report summarizing the working group’s recommendations.

MORE INFORMATION:  Complete details about the contractor’s full range of responsibilities, desired experience, and application submission instructions can be found in the request for proposals.

QUESTIONS:  Contact New England Council Executive Director Tom Nies at tnies@nefmc.org.