April 9, 2014 — Maine’s four-month scallop season that ended in March apparently will be the state’s strongest in years, despite a harsh winter and new regulations unpopular with some fishermen, preliminary data show.
Data for the 2013-14 season, which runs from December to March, are not yet compiled, but a strong December catch suggests season totals will top the 2012-13 haul of 427,080 pounds at a nearly $4.9 million value, said Trisha De Graaf, a spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The numbers were the highest since the state began compiling seasonal totals in 2008, she said.
The catch for December, typically the strongest month of the year, was 138,450 pounds, up more than 14,000 pounds from December 2012, De Graaf said.
“We’re seeing really positive signs in the fishery,” she said.
By calendar year, the haul for 2013 was 424,547 pounds of scallop meat, the highest total since 2000, state data show. The catch was valued at nearly $5.2 million, the highest figure since 1998, and the 2013 price of $12.24 per pound set a record, according to the department. Maine had 631 commercially licensed scallop harvesters last year.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald