Changes in the federal sea scallop rules governing the hundreds of general category scallopers have infuriated Wally Gray, who often fishes out of Gloucester on his 44-foot Foxy Lady II.
The Stonington, Maine, scallop fisherman said those changes will probably force him to do what he did years ago out of New Bedford.
"I’m 50. I’ve been on a boat since age 3. My parents couldn’t afford a baby sitter, so my father used to take me out lobstering. I started scalloping on small boats. Scallops were $1.20 to $1.40 a pound then. I moved off of the island (Stonington) when I was 19," said Gray, who crewed on or skippered big New Bedford scallopers from 1978 to 1994 before buying his own old wooden Novi-style boat in 1995.
He purchased the 20-year-old fiberglass Foxy Lady II in 2004 and has remained in the general category scallop fleet, which was allowed to fish days and bring home up to 400 pounds of shucked scallop meats each trip. Gray, like many of his general category peers, often led a nomadic life.