October 28th, 2016 — Who knew a such a tiny mollusk could turn such a hefty sum?
According to a federal report Wednesday, the city of New Bedford retained its pole position as the nation’s most-valued port in 2015, pulling in a total catch worth $322 million.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual fisheries report, New Bedford’s total haul weighed 124 million pounds.
While that amount wasn’t even enough to land New Bedford in the top 10 ports for total quantity (Dutch Harbor, Alaska topped that list with 787 million pounds of mostly pollock and cod), it yet again made the Massachusetts port the richest—by more than $100 million. They were first by even a wider margin in 2014.
Why? Sea scallops.
According to the Associated Press, the pricey seafood delicacy (the larger counterpart to the bay scallop) accounted for more than three-quarters of New Bedford’s catch. More than 60 percent of the 35.7 million pounds of sea scallops were caught in Massachusetts, according to the NOAA.
The NOAA put the price of sea scallops at $12.26 per pound in 2015, slightly down from $12.55 per pound in 2014. But that’s still more than double the market price during the mid-2000s.
As The Boston Globe reported in 2013, the New Bedford scallop industry has buoyed the lives of fishermen in an otherwise struggling city.