US Scallop Harvest: January 2011
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The New England Fishery Management Council adopted Framework 22 in November setting the scallop fishing quota for 2011 and 2012. The following chart summarizes catch areas and Days at Sea.
| Year | CA I | CA II | NLS | HC | DMV | ET | Total | DAS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 38 | |||
| 2011 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 32 | ||
| 2012 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 34 |
In short the scientists predict that the total harvest for 2010, 2011 and 2012 will remain relatively flat at approximately 55 million pounds, even with changes in the days at sea. The better than expected size of the scallops in 2010 helped to increase production in the Open Area and offset some of the loss in Closed Area quota. With the strong biomass the councils determined that it was better to curb the days at sea rather than risk harvests in excess of 60 million pounds and trigger deep and automatic harvest cutbacks.
The two significant changes in Framework 22 are the move from three Closed Area trips in the Mid Atlantic region and one in the North Atlantic region to two in both regions. Traditionally the industry relies on Closed Area I, Closed Area II and Nantucket Lightship for the bulk of its U/10's. The second significant change is the reduction from 38 to 32 Open Area Days at Sea.
Because CAII was not allocated a complete trip and it is not practical to send a vessel to CAII for 9,000 lbs, a lottery system will be used to select 25% of the fleet to make two 18,000 lb trips. The remainder of the fleet will make two 18,000 lb trips into CAI.
Closed Areas I & II will open on or about June 15th. The scallop fishing area within CAI has been expanded and the primary harvest is expected to be U/10's. In CA II, U/10's can be found amongst the Yellow Tail Flounder, but a significant by-catch of Yellowtail will trigger a premature closure within the area, therefore boats are expected to avoid the Yellowtail and catch large 10/20's.
In the Mid Atlantic region, Delmarva will be open for its third consecutive season with one 18,000 lb quota per vessel. Completing the 18,000 trip has taken more days of fishing with each passing year. Current fishing effort is producing a 15-25 ct scallop. When the scallops spawn, the scallops are expected to grow into a 10/20 before shrinking back to a 20/30 at the end of 2011. The Elephant Trunk area will be closed for at least two years to allow rebuilding. Multiple years of harvesting in this region have taken their toll as scallopers struggle to complete their 2010 quota. There are provisions that will permit vessels to catch the balance of their ET quota in March and April of 2011. Elephant Trunk has been replaced with Hudson Canyon which was also closed for two years for rebuilding and is expected to yield mostly 10/20's and some U/10's.
The Open Area has been reduced by 6 fishing days, but scientists (and fishermen) are hoping that a class year with larger scallops and a larger biomass will make up for the loss of fishing days. The scallops are expected to yield plenty of large 10/20's making 20/30's a small percentage of the 2011 harvest.
The lack of imports, coupled with a Nantucket Lightship season that did not close prematurely, created a demand for US 10/20 and 20/30 sea scallops, which pushed prices to an all time high. Fishermen and processors all realize that there needs to be some price adjustment in order to keep US scallops on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus. Price relief is expected to occur after the season begins in March, but the average price level on 10/20's is extremely difficult to predict.
Scallop imports are not expected to improve in 2011 due to a weak dollar and strong demand from other parts of the globe.
In summary, the 2011 harvest should be similar to or down slightly from 2010 levels with 10/20's being the predominant size once again. The decrease in Mid Atlantic U/10 production should be offset by CAII landings of U/10's. Consumer demand respective to supply will determine this year's price of scallops.