Recap of the 2008–2009 Sea Scallop Season
As of this writing, the Northeast sea scallop fishery is winding down. Let's take a look back and see what has transpired.
In March of this year the fleet of approximately 340 vessels was allocated four 18,000 pound Limited Access trips into the Elephant Trunk Closed Area off the coast of Delaware and harvesting began immediately. Landings were steady but spread out enough to prevent overloading the marketplace. The boat prices, price paid to the boat owners prior to unloading fees, hovered in the $6.50 – $7.00 range. The quota in this area has been mostly harvested, however, some vessels held a trip or two for the final four months. As of September 1st, a forced two months closure went into effect for the protection of turtle migration. A sharp decline in overall landings has been felt resulting in an increase in the boat price.
A second Limited Access Area offered to the fleet commenced on June 1st. This allowed for one trip for each vessel in the fleet into the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. The landing pattern was sufficiently well paced to prevent an over saturation of scallops in the marketplace. Jumbo U–10's fetched an average $7.00 – $7.25 at auction. A targeted bycatch emergency closure was set when a combined 70,000 lbs of Yellowtail Flounder was landed. Approximately 4,685,000 pounds of shucked scallop meats were taken from the area prior to the closure. An additional source of harvest was the ‘open area' days at sea. Full time vessels were allowed 35 days each, while part time ‘day boats' were allocated 5% of the full time harvest. At this writing, the vessels are exclusively fishing in the open area. A slower landings pattern has caused a modest rise in the boat price, currently in the $7.25 – $7.75 range.
There will be little problem for the combined fleet to land the full estimated quota of 44 million pounds for the 2008–2009 fishing year, compared to 52 million pounds during the previous year.
Looking ahead, the 2009–2010 fishing guidelines have been set as follows: Full time vessels will be allocated 42 open area days at sea, an increase of 7 days from this year. Added to that, full timers will receive one trip into Closed Area II, three trips into the Elephant Trunk, and for the first time in years, the fleet will be allowed one trip into the Delmarva Area located off the coast of Virginia. An overall quota increase to approximately 46 million pounds will be in effect during the next fishing year which begins on March 1st 2009.