September 22, 2025 — The scallop market in the US has faced continued challenges in 2025. Low domestic landings continue providing upward pricing pressure, while potentially constrained availability from Canada adds to tight North American supply. A similar scenario played out in 2024, when many market participants turned to Japanese product as a quality substitute for domestic shortfalls.
Gulf of Maine scallop fishing to be closed a week after area was reopened
April 25, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Friday that a section of the Gulf of Maine will be closed to scallop fishing in a few days, as the agency has projected the catch will reach the season quota that was recently set.
NOAA Fisheries said the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area will close at 12:01 a.m. Monday, April 28, to all federally-permitted limited access general category scallop vessels. The closure will be in effect until the end of the current fishing year, which lasts until March 31, 2026.
Gulf of Maine scallop season resumes
April 24, 2025 — Regulators have reopened commercial scallop fishing in the Northern Gulf of Maine after the season was briefly paused when federal officials failed to approve recommended catch limits in time.
The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) approved new quotas for the 2025 and 2026 scallop seasons in December 2024, setting a quota of 675,563 pounds for 2025 and a quota of 506,672 pounds for 2026 in the Northern Gulf of Maine federal fishery. However, the federal government still hadn’t approved those quotas before the 2025 season launched 1 April.
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Scallop season reopens in Northern Gulf of Maine with higher quota
April 21, 2025 — On Monday, April 21, the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) scallop fishery officially reopened with a higher annual quota of 675,563 pounds, part of NOAA Fisheries’ finalized Framework 39 for the 2025 fishing year.
For scallopers from Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire — many of whom have been working the spring season since April 1 — this reopening brings renewed opportunity, especially as project landings are expected to reach 18 million pounds across the broader Atlantic sea scallop fishery. The final rule, published April 18, introduces several changes aimed at maximizing yield and reducing bycatch, including a delayed opening of key access areas until May 15, and new seasonal closures in the Nantucket Lightship and Elephant Trunk areas to protect juvenile scallops.
Well before the ink was dry on NOAA’s final rule, the Maine fleet had already started descending on Gloucester, Mass., in what’s become a springtime ritual. As National Fisherman reported in April 2024, upwards of 40 boats from as far east as Lubec tied up in America’s oldest seaport, all chasing the same 200-pound daily limit.