Domestic Scallop Market: July 2009
The US scallop landings for 2007 were approximately 58 million pounds. The approximate breakdown by size was as follows:
- 25% = U/10's
- 58% = 10/20's
- 13% = 20/30's
- 3% = 30/40's
- <1% = 40/60's
The US scallop fishery is divided into two segments; restricted areas (commonly referred to as Closed Areas) and unrestricted areas (commonly referred to as Open Areas). The scallop fleet of approximately 340 vessels is given a Days At Sea (DAS) Open Area quota beginning on March 1st. This year's quota is 37 DAS versus 35 last year and 42 the prior year.
The US scallop fishery currently has six Closed Areas (Georges I, Georges II, Lightship, Delmarva, Elephant Trunk and Hudson Canyon). Georges Bank and Lightship are in the North Atlantic while Delmarva, Elephant Trunk and Hudson Canyon are in the Mid Atlantic region. Each fishing season each vessel is allocated a number of 18,000 lb trips in assigned areas. This year boats were allocated 1 trip in Georges II (AKA CAII), 1 trip in Delmarva and 3 trips in Elephant Trunk. The closure and rotation of restricted areas are designed to allow both scallops and ground fish to reproduce. The US harvest is expected to be 55 million pounds +/- 5%, approximately 50% of the Closed Areas and 50% from the Open Area.
The northern Closed Areas tend to produce more U/10's than the Mid Atlantic Closed Areas and this season there was only one trip in the north, Closed Area II. CAII opened on June 15th but was further restricted by a 350,000 lb Yellow Tail by-catch quota. The YT quota was caught within 3 weeks and the area was closed with <60% of the scallop quota being caught. Boats that failed to catch the quota were allocated 7.9 DAS in the open area. Although the open area allocation will recoup most of the lost harvest it has created a shortage of U/10's.
Each week the harvest of U/10's is between 10-15%, the same is true with 20/30's leaving 10/20's with 70-80% of the current scallop production. Prices on 10/20's is running approximately $0.50/lb less than last summer, based on a slight increase in 10/20 production and a slower economy. The price is U/10's is significantly higher than last season and there appears to be no relief in sight.
The price of 10/20's bottomed out at the beginning of June, then spiked at the end of June before leveling off to its existing levels. Seatrade does not expect any sharp declines in the price of scallops but we do expect a slow but steady increase in the price from Thanksgiving on.
On the imported side, most of the sea scallop seasons have just begun in Japan, China and Peru. Prices remain strong due to the weak dollar and slow production, but prices may fall as overseas inventories increase. The primary sizes out of Japan small 10/20's (18/23) and 20/30's. The primary sizes out of China are 30/40's and 40/60's with some 20/30's and the primary sizes from Peru are 40/60's with some 30/40's and 60/80's.