Beginning July 8, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) researchers will board industry vessels to conduct scallop surveys in 2 areas typically closed to fishing but scheduled to open for a limited time in spring 2011.
David Rudders and Dr. William DuPaul, Marine Scientists at VIMS, will be conducting these surveys aboard F/V Celtic (New Bedford, MA) and F/V Pursuit (Seaford, VA). The data gathered during these trips will help to set catch limits in these areas, which are only opened occasionally to prevent overfishing.
Managing scallops in such a way has enabled the fishery to attain recent stability and success. In 2008, scallops were the most valuable single-species fishery in the U.S. Coastwide, ex-vessel landings for 2008 were valued at roughly $370 million, not including the money generated on land by processors, shippers, and others. In Virginia, scallops are a major fisheries product and in 2008 accounted for $66 million ex-vessel, nearly 20 percent of the nation's scallop landings.
Read the complete story at William and Mary VIMS.