March 13, 2015 — The worldwide market for scallops goes on without stopping or slowing, and New Bedford scallops are making it to some pretty fancy plates around the world. Ibrahim Sirtioglu, an agriculture marketing specialist from Turkey who works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that Turkey buys scallops to serve to the 35 million tourists each year, making it the tourist capital of that region.
With high demand continuing despite budget crisis in some countries, scallop prices remain healthy at the New Bedford Seafood Auction, owned by Richard Canastra, who gave a demonstration: 10-20-count scallops (per pound) were $11.72 per pound at the auction, down a little over last year but worth a lot simply because the haul was so large, more than 122,000 pounds.
As the numbers churned on the auction flat-screen monitors, the buyers watched with rapt attention. It was very clear that scallops are sought after, especially New Bedford's, caught on or near Georges Bank in conditions that make them the best-tasting in the world.
This year's seafood tour, the 11th, was, as always, organized by the Massachusetts Export Center and the Massachusetts Business Development Center Network. The sponsor of the visitors was Food Export Northeast, a non-profit export promotion organization, which targets foreign buyers and connects them with New Bedford suppliers.
Scheduling changes made this year's tour the largest yet. And if last year's surge in sales is any indication, it won't be a surprise if the local industry does very well in the coming months in the export market. More buyers could make it this year because the Seafood Expo hadn't started yet, freeing them to board the chartered bus to New Bedford. Likewise, processors didn't have to spend time running back and forth between here and Boston, and they could commit all their attention to the tour.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times