October 23, 2017 — PORT ST.JOE, Florida — Scallops in the St. Joe Bay are showing signs of recovery based on anecdotal evidence from the short Gulf County season this year.
“We’re still in recovery, but we’re much improved over last year,” said Captain Phil Cox, who led several guided trips. “They were thick enough to keep people interested.”
Thick enough to keep scallopers interested is a big improvement over the 2016 season, when the devastating effects of a red tide shortened the season and made scallops hard to find. And while the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) doesn’t yet have hard data about this year’s recreational harvest, they also believe the situation has improved.
“We’ve had pretty consistent comments … the season went well,” FWC spokeswoman Amanda Nalley said. “Several people told us they met their bag limit.”
That’s not to say this year’s season didn’t have its own set of problems. A rare algae bloom, called pseudo-nitzschia, forced FWC to delay the start of the season for months. The algae, while not harmful to the scallops, can make them unsafe for consumption.