NEW BEDFORD, MA \u2013 Skates are a nuisance on scallop boats, where sorting them from the pile and tossing them back overboard takes up valuable crew time.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, several New Bedford scallopers have been participating in a study designed to better understand what really happens to these skates after they are discarded.\u00a0 It\u2019s clear they don\u2019t all die.\u00a0 So the key question is:\u00a0 How many actually survive?<\/p>\n
The two-year project, which is being carried out under the industry-funded scallop research set-aside (RSA) program, is called \u201cEvaluating the Condition and Discard Mortality of Skates Following Capture and Handling in the Sea Scallop Dredge Fishery.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project is focusing on three species of skates \u2013 little, winter, and barndoor \u2013 the ones most frequently encountered by scallopers.\u00a0 Barndoors are a prohibited species and by law must be discarded.\u00a0 But little skates are often marketed as bait, and winter skate \u201cwings\u201d are sold for human consumption \u2013 but not by scallopers given their extremely low value in comparison to scallops, which generally were bringing $11-$13 per pound this summer.<\/p>\n
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Read the rest and much, much more in the September issue of Commercial Fisheries News. Read online<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
immediately and download for future reference. [add_to_cart=3157]<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n NEW BEDFORD, MA \u2013 Skates are a nuisance on scallop boats, where sorting them from the pile and tossing them back overboard takes up valuable crew time. Nonetheless, several New Bedford scallopers have been participating in a study designed to better understand what really happens to these skates after they are discarded.\u00a0 It\u2019s clear they … <\/p>\n