Category: Scallop

New England council selects range of alternatives for scallops FW29; rejects proposed control date

  PORTLAND, ME – At its Jun. 20-22 meeting here, the New England Fishery Management Council tackled a slew of Atlantic sea scallop issues that included a comprehensive review of the limited access general category individual fishing quota (LAGC IFQ) program, approving research set-aside projects for 2018-2019, and recommending industry-requested scallop dredge exemption area expansions. …

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2017-2018 scallop quota RSA projects awarded

GLOUCESTER, MA – This year’s sea scallop fisheries research program (announced in March) will fund an estimated $15.32 million in projects – from 1.27 million pounds of sea scallop research set-aside (RSA) quota based on $12 per pound. NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) awarded RSA quota to 17 projects for the 2017-2018 fishing year.  …

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New scalloper Orion joins New Bedford fleet

NEW BEDFORD, MA – The 101’ big steel scalloper Orion is the latest newbuild to join the fleet at the Eastern/Nordic Fisheries/O’Hara docks here. Like her sister ship Monomoy, (see CFN May, 2016) Orion was built on a standardized John W. Gilbert Associates design.  A few tweaks here and there, but overall the Gilbert design …

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Small scallops abound; future looks especially bright on Georges Bank

HYANNIS, MA – Georges Bank is littered with scallops.  Biomass there is extremely high, and the enormous 2013 year class promises to fuel the fishery for several years to come. Just not in 2015. “There are a lot of scallops out there, but they’re still pretty small – not a lot of meat on these …

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Scallopers use electronic reporting to collect ‘real-time’ catch data

EAST FALMOUTH, MA – Fifteen scallop vessels are now using a simple computer software program to collect and transmit “real-time” scallop catch and yellowtail flounder bycatch information back to shore. The information is aggregated daily by a second software program and is automatically transmitted back to participating boats in the form of color-coded maps that …

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Maine’s dilemma: Growing scallop resource leads to effort increase

ROCKLAND, ME – In a rare case of “be careful what you wish for,” the state of Maine is wrestling with the problem of how to deal with an influx of fishermen attracted by the impressive rebound of its scallop resource. The recent effort increase was a hot topic at a June 3 meeting at …

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Scallopers ramp up efforts to avoid yellowtail

NEW BEDFORD, MA – Scallopers are now completely prohibited from possessing yellowtail flounder, a move that industry leaders supported to encourage all vessels to steer clear of this species as much as possible. The prohibition was included in a federal groundfish plan action known as Framework 51, which went into effect on May 1. The …

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NMFS transfers excess yellowtail from scallop to groundfish fishery

GLOUCESTER, MA – The groundfish fishery got a bit of a boost on Feb. 20 when the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) transferred a portion of the scallop fishery’s unused 2013 yellowtail flounder allocation to the groundfish fishery. The 2013 scallop fishing year ended Feb. 28, but the groundfish year runs through April 30, so …

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Scallopers hold steady on ‘lean’ course for 2014

PORTSMOUTH, NH – Scallopers should be able to land roughly the same amount of product this year as last, but they’ll be harvesting a larger percentage of the catch in open areas rather than access areas. The New England Fishery Management Council agreed to this strategy on Jan. 29 when it finalized Framework Adjustment 25 …

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Yellowtail flounder possession ban in pipeline for limited-access scallopers

DANVERS, MA – In the near future, limited-access scallopers may be prohibited from keeping any yellowtail flounder at all if a new measure in Framework 51 to the groundfish plan is approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The New England Fishery Management Council adopted the yellowtail prohibition by a one-vote margin during its …

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