August 17, 2018 — The extra TLC the past two years would appear to be reaping dividends.
A project begun in 2016 to restore the scallop population in St. Joseph Bay has found purchase based on the results of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s adult population survey.
The survey results, posted Tuesday, show that the current population is nearly four-times that of last year and nearly twice the mean of the past six years.
Scallop harvest season in St. Joseph Bay begins Friday and continues through Sept. 30, the latest starting, and longest by days, scallop harvest season in Florida.
During this year’s survey, which was more extensive than typical due to the late start of the season, researchers found 8.1 scallops per square meter, approximately 1.2 square yards.
That is more than three times the density found during last year’s survey and eight times higher than two years ago, when the population was deemed “collapsed,” with less than one scallop per square meter.
The population remains “vulnerable,” the FWC category for adult populations of between two and 20 scallops per square meter.