Saving Seafood

Sale of sea scallops to fund research on loggerhead turtles

April 12, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Organizations in five states will receive more than $15 million for marine science research projects funded by the sale of sea scallops.

One of the projects seeks to understand the impacts of sea scallop fishing on loggerhead sea turtles through the use of satellite tagging. Coonamessett Farm Foundation Inc. of Falmouth, Massachusetts, is the lead investigating organization on that effort.

Recipients of the grants are located in Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Virginia. They range from universities and educational organizations to commercial fishing businesses.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Virginian-Pilot

“Sustaining Sea Scallops” Documentary Highlights Cooperative Research

March 8, 2016 — The following was released by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation:

The scallop industry and its scientific partners have been hard at work producing a movie about Cooperative Research and its role in “Sustaining Sea Scallops”

The sea scallop fishery is one of the most lucrative wild-harvest fisheries in the United States. But just 15 short years ago this key fishery was facing closures and on the verge of bankruptcy. SUSTAINING SEA SCALLOPS chronicles the dramatic rebound of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery highlighting the unique partnership that supports this sustainable fishery.

You can find the link for the movie trailer at www.cfarm.org and a list of venues where the full movie can be viewed. The 35-minute documentary follows fishermen and researchers from New Bedford, Massachusetts to Seaford, Virginia, as they collaborate on studies of gear design, deep sea habitats, and threatened sea turtles. Capturing in-depth footage of the offshore and onshore processes involved in the scalloping industry. Including unprecedented footage of the marine environment using new underwater technologies that provides a breathtaking mosaic of sea scallops on the ocean floor and a close-up of a loggerhead sea turtle feeding on scallops.

With input from researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and Coonamessett Farm Foundation the film explores a new method of fisheries management that focuses on gear innovations and improved survey strategies to maintain a healthy fishery.

A rare tale of renewal, SUSTAINING SEA SCALLOPS, illuminates a message of hope for other beleaguered fisheries offering cooperative research as a new model for sustainable fisheries.

Watch the video from the Coonamessett Farm Foundation and their partners

Like a Scallop in the Headlights

October 29, 2015 — Scallops, like deer, freeze in the headlights. A blast of artificial light causes scallops to refuse to swim. It’s an unusual reaction, given that marine creatures generally either flock to the light, like moths, or scurry from the intrusion. Understanding this odd behavior might help governments take better care of scallop fisheries.

Liese Siemann, a research biologist at the Coonamessett Farm Foundation in Massachusetts, discovered the mollusks’ motionlessness by accident while watching videos of Atlantic sea scallops off the east coast of Long Island, New York. Traditionally, scientists survey scallop fishing grounds by dredging—scooping creatures from the seafloor to count them. But Siemann and her team were testing video survey equipment, trawling a camera through the sea. She says video surveys are safer for protected species or in protected areas, and are becoming more common.

Looking at the footage, Siemann noticed that when the camera’s light was off, scallops swam away as the sled approached. But when the camera’s light was switched on, the scallops seemed to stay put. Scallops aren’t the most mobile animals, but they can swim a few meters at a time by opening and closing their shells. They can also spin around, jump, and flip over if they get turned upside down.

Read the full story at Hakai Magazine