Atlantic sea scallops Archives - Page 4 of 6

Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Awards announced by NOAA, NEFMC

May 22, 2019 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) recently announced its awards for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program for the 2019-2020 cycle, addressing resource studies, dredge efficiencies, bycatch reduction, fishery impacts on loggerhead turtles, and potential offshore energy impacts on early lifecycle scallop transport.

Thirteen projects will be supported by the program that centers on scallop research priorities identified by the NEFMC, which ranked resource surveys as the highest priority.

Collectively, these awards are expected to generate more than USD 14 million (EUR 12.5 million), according to the council. This includes an estimated USD 2.8 million (EUR 2.5 million) to fund the research and USD 11.4 million (EUR 10.2 million) to compensate industry partners who harvest set-aside quota. No federal money is involved, making this an entirely industry-funded program, the NEFMC said.

The NEFMC approved research priorities last summer for the 2019-2020 projects announced this month. The council will develop a new list at next month’s meeting for 2020-2021 projects. The organization established the scallop RSA Program to address research questions that support management of the scallop resource. Each year during the specification-setting process, the council “sets aside” 1.25 million pounds of scallops to carry out RSA projects.

The work is a collaborative effort between fishermen and scientists.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scallops sales to fund ocean research on East Coast

May 10, 2019 — The federal government says a program that sells scallops to pay for marine science will include a study of how shellfish harvesting impacts sea turtles in this year’s projects.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside will help pay for 13 projects in 2019 and 2020. Regulators use the program to set aside more than a million pounds of scallops, which generates millions of dollars for the science projects.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times

ANALYSIS: Unsettled 2019 Scallop Season Start

April 18, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The market for U.S. origin Atlantic sea scallops remains unsettled at the start of the 2019 fishing year which began on April 1, 2019. With consecutive days of landings over the 200,000 lb. mark, the industry is split. Some are taking a step back, allowing for the raw material market to stabilize before adjusting their prices, while others promote discounts with the abundant landings typical of the season opening.

Inventory holdings play a key role when determining price adjustments at the start of the season. Those with healthier inventory levels with product purchased when prices were higher will be slower to discount at the first sign of the market softening.

The graph below illustrates how the most dramatic discounts are typically seen in the first two months of the season, before the market begins to stabilize through the end of the year.

In looking at our current season, while the daily catch rates have been ample, the scallop quality is characterized as ‘medium’, with splits and pieces taking a higher percentage rate than favorable, resulting in weaker boat prices. The weeks ahead will reveal if the 2019 season will follow seasonal trends or create its own path.

The following story was published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Fishing Year 2019 Atlantic Sea Scallop Management Measures Go Into Effect April 1

March 27, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The management measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery for the 2019 fishing year go into effect on April 1, 2019.

Framework Adjustment 30 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan:

Sets specifications for the scallop fishery for fishing year 2019, including Days-at-Sea (DAS) allocations, Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQs), and sea scallop access area trip allocations. These allocations are similar to those set in the 2018 fishing year. This action also sets precautionary default 2020 specifications, in case we implement the next framework after the April 1, 2020 start of the 2020 fishing year;
Allocates effort into three rotational access areas (Mid-Atlantic, Nantucket Lightship-West, and Closed Area 1). Scallop landings allocated to Closed Area 1 are flexible and can be landed from any available access area;
Sets a 205,000 lb Northern Gulf of Maine total allowable catch for 2019 that will be split as 137,500 lb for the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) and 67,500 lb for the limited access fleet;
Standardizes default specifications for Limited Access DAS and LAGC IFQ allocations; and
Standardizes the approach used to set the number of access area trips available to the LAGC IFQ fleet.

Read the final rule as published in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletins for the Limited Access and Limited Access General Category scallop vessels available on our website.

Read the release here

New measures proposed for Gulf of Maine scallops

February 13, 2019 — Federal fishery regulators are considering new measures for the Atlantic sea scallop management plan and have scheduled a series of public hearings from Maine to Virginia to collect public comment.

The public hearings, which include an April 3 session at the state Division of Marine Fisheries’s Annisquam River Station on Emerson Avenue in Gloucester, will touch upon three primary issues contained in Amendment 21 currently being developed by the New England Fishery Management Council:

* Measures to support a growing scallop fishery in the federal waters of the northern Gulf of Maine.

* Increasing the individual fishing quota possession limit of 600 pounds for those fishing with a limited access general permit.

* Measures that would allow limited access vessels to transfer quota to vessels fishing on a limited access general permit.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Scallops hold steady for New England, but sizes could shrink

December 7, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council yesterday released information on the upcoming scallop season, including an estimated 60 million pounds in landings.

The council approved Framework Adjustment 30 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which still needs to be approved by NMFS before the season kicks off on April 1, 2019.

Peter Handy, president and CEO of Bristol Seafood, speculated that a reduction in trips to Nantucket Light Ship South and Closed Area 1 may also reduce the volume of U10 and U12 product on the market.

Last season, about half the catch in these areas were larger scallops.

“Overall, it looks like the trips to areas that have the most plentiful big scallops was reduced from two down to one,” Handy reported in a press release. However, he added, it is important to note that scallop sizes can change year to year within the same area.

The Northern Gulf of Maine TAC increased about 5,000 pounds to 205,000. However, last year the council’s prediction for the 2019 season was 135,000 pounds. The default for 2020 is set at 170,000.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NEFMC recommendation could pave way for another big scallop year; 60m lbs projected

December 6, 2018 — New England scallop landings in 2019 could reach as much as 60 million pounds (27,215 metric tons), a similar result to 2018, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) projects.

The new season will begin on April 1.

At its meeting held today, Dec. 5, the NEFMC voted unanimously to approve a set of rules known as “Framework 30”, which, if the projection by the council’s plan team holds true, could lead to the 60m lbs harvest.

The framework will allow vessels with “full-time limited access” scallop permits to fish during 24 open-area days-at-sea and seven 18,000-pound access area trips.

That includes three trips to a zone called “Nantucket Lightship-West”, three to the “Mid-Atlantic Access Area”, and an additional “flex” trip that can be used in either of those areas or a more northerly zone, “Closed Area I”.

For the “part-time limited access fleet” in 2019, vessels will be allocated 9.6 open-area days-at-sea and three 17,000-pound trips. One trip will be used in Nantucket Lightship-West, another in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area and the third in either of those areas or in Closed Area I.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Scallops 2: NEFMC Takes Final Action on Framework 30

December 6, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its December 4-6 meeting in Newport, RI, the New England Fishery Management Council approved Framework Adjustment 30 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The framework contains: (1) specifications for the 2019 scallop fishing year, which will begin on April 1; (2) default specifications for 2020; and (3) two “standard default measures” that will carry on into future years.

The Council will submit the framework to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA Fisheries) for review and implementation. The Scallop Plan Development Team projects that, under the provisions selected by the Council, the region’s scallop fleet should be able to land roughly 60 million pounds of scallop meats in the 2019 fishing year.

Here’s what’s in the framework.

Full-Time Limited Access Fleet

In 2019, vessels with full time limited access scallop permits will be allocated 24 open-area days-at-sea and seven 18,000-pound access area trips:

Three trips into Nantucket Lightship West;
Three trips into the Mid-Atlantic Access Area; and
One “flex” trip that can be fished either in Closed Area I, Nantucket Lightship-West, or the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.

Read the full release here

Here’s how climate change will impact your part of the country

November 27, 2018 — Northeast:

There will be shorter winters and longer summers.
There will be a decline of species that support some of the most valuable and iconic fisheries, including Atlantic cod, Atlantic sea scallops and American lobsters.
Expect approximately 650 excess deaths per year caused by extreme heat by 2050
Health risks from contaminated flood waters. For example, because much of the historical development of industry and commerce in New England occurred along rivers, canals, coasts, and other bodies of water, these areas often have a higher density of contaminated sites, waste management facilities, and petroleum storage facilities that are potentially vulnerable to flooding.

Northwest:

Ocean/water warming: Increasing ocean temperatures and acidity impact fish survival, the report states. As water temperatures continue to rise, negative impacts on fisheries are expected to increase. With increased stream temperature projections, the report predicts a 22% reduction in salmon habitat in Washington by the end of the century if emissions continue to release at a higher rate. That kind of salmon population loss would correlate to a $3 billion economic loss.

Alaska:

The state is “warming faster than any other state” and “twice as fast as the global average since the middle of the 20th century.”
Devastating impact to fishing industry: Alaskan fisheries “are among the most productive and valuable in the world.” A “recent heat wave in the Gulf of Alaska, which led to an inability of the fishery to harvest the Pacific cod quota in 2016 and 2017 and to an approximately 80% reduction in the allowable quota in 2018.”

Read the full story at CNN

New England fishery staff optimistic about another big scallop year

October 9, 2018 — As amazing as the 2018 New England scallop harvest has been, the 2019 season could be just as great.

That’s what the staff at the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) is saying following multiple dredge and high-resolution drop camera surveys taken to evaluate scallop biomass and help inform coming recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“From a biological perspective – the outlook is good for next year,” Jonathan Peros, the NEFMC’s lead fishery analyst for Atlantic sea scallops, told Undercurrent News in an email sent Friday. “The fishery could achieve a harvest similar to 2018 levels in the coming year.”

Speaking of the 2018 scallop season, it’s been one for the books. Based on the estimate of nearly 39 million pounds of scallops landed as of Sept. 13, the NEFMC staff has conservatively projected the fishery will finish the year with 56m pounds, Peros told the council at a meeting late last month. And counting the carry over and scallops harvested for research and observer purposes, the volume of landings could climb to 60m, Peros told Undercurrent.

That would be an improvement of nearly 13% over the 53.4m lbs landed in 2017.

Despite the abundance of scallops, the price at the Buyers and Sellers Exchange, the seafood auction in New Bedford, Massachusetts, appears to have ratcheted way up at the end of the year.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News