December 16, 2021 — The Christmas season demand for fresh seafood is giving another jolt to Atlantic sea scallop prices, with $37 to $38 prices reported for U12 product in Massachusetts and New Jersey ports this week.
The holiday peak comes on top of a year with tight supplies, as the scallop fleet and fishery managers wound down pressure on the resource. With the bounteous 2012-2013 class of scallops fading away, supplies will remain tight after the New England Fishery Management Council issued its specifications for the 2022 fishing year.
In New Bedford, the Buyers’ and Sellers Exchange (BASE) seafood auction reported a Dec. 15 price record of $37 per pound paid for U12 Great South Channel scallops landed by the F/V Furious. At Barnegat Light, N.J., scallop prices touched $38.
The new peaks come after a season when the industry bounced back from its covid-19 nightmare of 2020, when prices already were approaching $30 in spring 2021.
The New England Fishery Management Council finalized the 2022 fishing year plan during online meetings Dec. 7-9 and issued the complete decision Dec. 14 on its Amendment 34 changes.