The opening week of the 2010/2011 commercial-scalloping season has left many associated with the island’s bay-scallop industry discouraged and questioning just how long the harvest will last.
The consensus: Scallops are scarce, and it is taking many fishermen nearly half the day to reach their five-bushel limits, almost unheard of in normal years this early in the season. The upside of this year’s catch, so far, anyway, is that the shucked meat is bigger, unlike last year, leading to higher yields and more money in the scallopers’ pockets.
Three days into the season, scallopers were getting $11 a pound for their catch, and shucked scallops were retailing for anywhere from $14 a pound at Souza’s Seafood to $18.95 at Glidden’s Island Seafood.
Town shellfish biologist Tara Riley was on one of the scallopers on the 56 boats that set out Monday on the coldest morning so far this fall. Heading out around 7 a.m. with temperatures in the low 30s, she said that it took her until about 1 p.m. to reach her five-bushel limit, but that she took her time examining what was brought in.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Inquirer And Mirror (Nantucket, MA).