Scallop RSA program funds 13 more projects

GLOUCESTER, MA – The industry funded scallop research set-aside (RSA) program launched in 1998 is celebrating its 14th anniversary this year with another impressive slate of cooperative research projects that will be carried out jointly by scientists and commercial fishermen.

In early May, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that 13 projects had been selected to receive 2012 RSA awards totaling roughly 1.223 million pounds of scallops. Based on an exvessel price of $9.42 per pound, the set-aside is valued at over $11.52 million. The program has become highly competitive and is closely watched by industry, which directly pays for the resulting research by annually foregoing 1.25 million pounds of allowable landings and associated revenue right off the top of the fishery’s annual catch limit.

Read the rest and much, much more in the July issue of Commercial Fisheries News.
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