After suffering cutbacks in the number of days they may spend at sea and from closures of fertile Georges Bank fishing grounds, local scallop fishermen are starting to see their fortunes rebound. In May, the New England Fishery Management Council, the 17-member federal body that regulates the harvest of sea scallops in federal waters, voted to open a portion of one of the areas of Georges Bank that has been closed since 1994. Scallop fishermen have increased their catches as a result.
For example, fishermen landed 5,000 tons of scallop meat during the 1998 fishing year, which begins in March. But with the opening of a portion of “Closed Area II,” a 2,600 square-mile area that touches the line separating U.S. and Canadian waters, the catch will be increased by 4,400 tons this year, said Kenneth Coons, executive director of the New England Fisheries Development Association, a regional trade association based in Charlestown.
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For fishermen, the opening has helped them compensate for recent tough times. The closures first occurred in 1994 when the U.S. Secretary of Commerce ordered the council to take action to save rapidly declining stocks of ground fish, such as cod and haddock.
The council then closed off three areas of Georges Bank to all fishing gear capable of catching ground fish. Scallop fishermen, who use a dredge to catch their fish, could no longer fish these areas. In addition to the 2,600 square mile area bordering Canadian waters, the council also closed a 1,000 square mile box off Cape Cod and the 2,500 square mile Nantucket Lightship area.
But recent evidence that scallop stocks are recovering prompted the council in May to open a portion of 2,600 mile stretch. Even more recent surveys that came in early August show that scallop biomass – the volume of organisms per unit area – has improved beyond expectations, according to the management council.
Biomass in the closed areas of Georges Bank are at its highest since 1982. And while the biomass is still below targeted levels, preliminary indications are more positive than expected, it reports.
Scientists are now studying the data further to determine how the council should proceed in governing the bank’s closed areas. In September, the council will hold a series of meetings in Fairhaven in which the scientists will present their findings to the council’s scallop committee.
After considering the scientists’ data, the scallop committee will recommend a series of actions to the entire council, which will vote in November on policies governing the 2000 fishing year, which begins March 1. The Fairhaven meetings will be held from Sept. 21 to 23.
THICKET OF FISHING VESSELS at rest reflects problems fishers face with restrictions on catches and locations.
The key decision the council will have to make in November is how many days that fishermen may spend at sea in 2000. The council has cut the number in recent years as part of its overall effort to restore depleted stocks of scallops along the Atlantic coastline.
For example, the council cut the days at sea limit from 142 in 1998 to 120 in 1999. And its current sea scallop management plan calls for days at sea to be cut to 53 in 2000.
But with recent evidence that stocks are improving – anecdotally, fishermen report that catches are improving even outside the closed areas – it is possible that the limit may be set higher. Many scallop fishermen have complained that even the 120 day limit has been damaging.
“The plan calls for a very significant reduction; however, the survey data seem to be in a little better shape (than expected),” said Phil Coates, chairman of the scallop committee.
Coates added that while he cannot predict the outcome of the council’s November vote, he does expect the limit to be set above what the current plan calls for.
Part of today’s problems stem from the high numbers of fishermen who got into the business when scallops were abundant, Coates said. The competition fostered the development of more efficient fishing techniques and improved technology.
Still, fishermen need at least 120 days of productive fishing to stay in business, Coates said.
One conservation idea now under consideration is to open the closed portions of Georges Bank on a rotating basis – similar to the way a farmer would rotate fields, said Chris Kellogg, chief technical officer for the management council.
Fishermen support this idea as a fair solution, Coons said. He noted that opening of the closed area has caused scallop prices to drop 15 to 20 percent this year. “I can’t overemphasize the thickness of those (scallop) beds,” he said. “The scallops were essentially dying of old age out there.”
But prices should increase this month as more and more fishermen use up their days at sea, said Peter Coop, owner of Sea-Trek Enterprises Inc., an East Greenwich, R.I. seafood importer that also sells scallops landed in New Bedford. The cutbacks in scallop harvesting in Georges Bank have forced Sea-Trek to import more scallops from Iceland over the past few years, Coop said.
