April 3, 2023 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:
The Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support 13 new projects under the 2023- 2024 award cycle. The harvest of the set-aside is expected to generate $20 million in revenue. Of that total, $4 million will fund the research and $16 million will compensate industry partners who harvest the set-aside scallops. In order to determine the award amounts, the price of sea scallops was projected to average $15 per pound. Five different institutions will lead the projects, partnering with fishermen, fishing businesses, and non-profit fishery research organizations. The complete list of projects and award totals is shown in the table on page 3.
The 2023-2024 RSA projects address research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council in June 2022. The Council’s priorities focused on resource surveys, research on scallop biology and sea turtles, scallop enhancement, habitat characterization, high density resource areas, offshore wind, bycatch reduction of small scallops and non-target species, and gear research.
RSA-funded scallop surveys have been a long-standing priority and have become increasingly important in: (1) providing information that directly helps scientists determine the status and distribution of the resource; and (2) guiding the Council in making management decisions for this valuable resource.