January 19, 2017 — SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — More smaller-size scallops are set to be landed in the 2017/2018 US fishing year, which could widen the price gap between U10s-10/20s and 20/30s, according to one executive on the shellfish panel on Wednesday at the Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC).
Although the US landings are forecasted to increase 15% to 46 million pounds in 2017/2018, the quantity of U10s is not expected to rise.
“We think it will be static on U10s. They [U10s] are unlikely to increase as a percentage of the fishery,” said Sean Moriarty, vice president of sales with Blue Harvest Fisheries, one of the largest US scallop catching companies, during the 2017 GSMC in San Francisco, California.
While some of the new open areas for the fishery are likely to yield more large scallops, the southern areas are producing less.
According to price data up to September last year presented by the panel, U10s are on the increase and have been over $20 per pound, but 20/30s have been sliding.