Saving Seafood

NMFS selects 13 Northeast scallop research projects worth $12.5 million

March 16, 2021 — Sea scallop surveys, bycatch reduction and sea turtle interactions are on a list for the 2021-22 Northeast research set-aside program for scallop science.

Set up by the New England Fishery Management Council in 1999, the cooperative science effort between researchers and fishermen was one  outcome of the scallop fishery crisis when abundance declined in the mid-1990s. Two decades later, scallops are the richest East Coast fishery, with a system of rotating area management and close collaboration between NMFS, academic researchers and the industry.

The set-aside program is a wish list of research needs from the council and carves out a small part of the fishery’s landings – valued around $570 million in 2019 – allocating it to boats carrying out the projects. For the 2021-2022 program that will be about $12.5 million in scallops brought to the docks, with $3 million from those paying for the science work and $9.5 million for the fishermen, according to a summary from NMFS.

“The RSA program improves our scientific understanding of sea scallops and monkfish, which directly contributes to their sustainable management,” Jon Hare, director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said in a statement outlining the plan.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

2021-2022 Sea Scallop RSA Projects Selected

March 15, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has selected 13 projects for 2021-2022 awards through the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The selected projects focus on research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council, which established the Sea Scallop RSA Program in 1999. The council sets priorities, and NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.

NOAA Fisheries expects to make final awards later this month. A list of selected projects and more can be accessed here.

Questions?

Contact Cheryl Corbett, Northeast Fisheries Science Center Cooperative Projects Coordinator

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

NEFMC Seeks Candidates for Scallop Survey Working Group

February 3, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is looking for qualified candidates to serve on its new Scallop Survey Working Group (SSWG). The application deadline is Monday, February 22, 2021 at 8:00 a.m.

The Council manages the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. It relies on scallop surveys to detect and monitor recruitment events and track resource trends to support its rotational area management program.

Previous stock assessments and survey reviews identified issues that could help improve both the federal scallop survey and surveys supported through the Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. As part of its 2021 scallop priorities, the Council agreed to establish a working group to develop recommendations to address these issues. The Scallop Survey Working Group will first provide input on clear terms of reference (TORs) before the TORs are approved by the Council’s executive director in consultation with the director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (Science Center).

Read the full release here

Alaska scallopers manage with covid quarantines, but clams stay in the sand

February 3, 2021 — Alaska scallopers fished on a guideline harvest level of 277,500 pounds of shucked meat for the 2020-21 season. That’s up from the GHL of 271,300 pounds from the year before. Harvests, however, have been declining, and the 2019-20 landings of 224,765 pounds were the lowest since the 1993-94 season.

Scallops mature into the fishery at 4 years old, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game conducts population surveys in rotating areas each year, according to Andrew Olson, an area management biologist, in Yakutat. Of the management areas lying in the waters offshore of Yakutat, Kodiak, the Alaska Peninsula, Dutch Harbor and Bristol Bay, the area near Yakutat has maintained the highest GHL in recent years. The GHL for the Yakutat in the 2020-21 season had been set at 145,000 pounds, shucked.

Like many other fisheries, covid caused some ripples in this year’s season, primarily with lining up observers for the two vessels that fish the scallops in a cooperative harvest agreement. As per federal regulations, the scallopers operate under 100 percent observer coverage. This year that meant quarantining the observers before they boarded. After that, the season went off without a hitch and fishing began.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New England Fishery Management Council Issues Update On Start of 2021 Scallop Fishing Year

January 29, 2021 — On Wednesday the New England Fishery Management Council signed off on Framework 33 , which includes specifications for the 2021 scallop fishing year and default specifications for the 2022 fishing year; among other measures.

Currently the scallop industry is operating under the 2020 fishing year, with the 2021 fishing year set to begin on April 1. Framework adjustment 33 will not be implemented by April 1 due to complications related to COVID-19 and the cancellation of the federal scallop survey. The Council is warning fishermen that they will be working under default 2021 measures that were established in Framework 32 as a backup.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NEFMC Signs Off on Scallop Framework 33 with Fishing Year 2021 Allocations and Defaults

January 27, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has selected final measures for Framework Adjustment 33 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan and voted to send the framework to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) for review and implementation.

The framework includes: (1) specifications for the 2021 scallop fishing year; (2) default specifications for the 2022 fishing year; and (3) measures to minimize impacts on Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and northern windowpane flounder.

For 2021, full-time limited access vessels will be allocated:

  • 1 trip to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area;
  • 1.5 trips to Nantucket Lightship South;
  • 1.5 trips to Closed Area II (Southwest and Extension) with a seasonal closure from August 15 through November 30 to reduce flatfish impacts;
  • and 24 open area days-at-sea.

Read the full release here

Atlantic scallop harvest projected to decline by 23% next year

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.”

Read the full story at IntraFish

NEFMC Receives Overview of 2020 Scallop Surveys, Biomass Estimates, and Initial 2021 Outlook

December 10, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its December 1-3, 2020 webinar meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council got its first comprehensive look at 2020 scallop survey results for Georges Bank and the Mid-Atlantic. The results indicate that roughly two-thirds of the harvestable biomass – also known as exploitable biomass – is located in scallop rotational areas, and roughly one-third is available on open bottom. The Council will review Gulf of Maine survey results during its January meeting.

This year’s surveys were conducted entirely through the industry-funded Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The federal scallop survey was canceled due to complications associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are a few highlights for Georges Bank and the Mid-Atlantic.

Read the full release here

MASSACHUSETTS: Stabilizing The World’s Last Commercial Wild Bay Scallop Fishery In Nantucket

December 3, 2020 — Standing at the water’s edge overlooking Nantucket Harbor, Tara Riley explained that she had never heard of the famed island before she applied to become the town’s shellfish biologist in 2009. But now, ten years later, she said, she can’t imagine being anywhere else.

Perched at the entrance to Nantucket Harbor at Brant Point, the Town of Nantucket Shellfish Propagation Facility resembles a one-room schoolhouse on stilts. And it’s where Riley manages what is essentially a shellfish fertility clinic, growing clams and oysters — and more importantly, wild bay scallops — that she will release into the harbor to grow and mature. With Riley’s help, Nantucket’s shellfish hatchery is producing billions of larvae to help stabilize one of the last commercially viable wild bay scallop populations in the world.

Her job is no less than to save an historic industry that was nearly lost to pollution in the harbor from sewage and fertilizers. Wild bay scallops have generated revenue in Nantucket for 150 years, replacing the whaling industry after it shifted to New Bedford. Like whaling, commercial scalloping provided an important independence from the mainland.

“It’s pretty rare to have the town have a program like we have,” Riley said. “It just speaks to the fact of how important the bay scallop fishery is to the community and how much they want to preserve it.”

Read the full story at WGBH