October 25, 2024 — Sweet, tender, briny bay scallops are making a comeback in Virginia, according to researchers at the College of William & Mary, who say this year’s population may be approaching sustainable levels.
“The Atlantic bay scallop is a species that ranges from New England, down to Florida, and around the Gulf Coast,” said Richard Snyder, director of Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Eastern Shore Lab and a professor of marine science at William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal and Marine Sciences.
With a creamy texture, he said bay scallops are smaller than sea scallops.
For the past 24 years, scientists at the ESL have been working to restore the seagrass, which plays a crucial role in the survival of bay scallops.
“The young scallops will attach to the grass blades, and that’s how they grow and survive,” Snyder said. “And the adults will then drop to the bottom, but they live in the grass beds, even as adults.”
Starting in 2010, researchers brought wild scallops from North Carolina into the research hatchery.