New Bedford’s fishing industry took in $150.5 million in revenue last year, more than any U.S. port, according to statistics released last month by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The news underscores a dramatic rebound for New England’s groundfish and scallops in particular, which are the lifeblood of New Bedford’s fishing industry. The relatively high-priced scallops account for more than half of the port’s value.
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New Bedford disappeared from the top of the list of commercial ports throughout most of the 1990s, after regulators closed several prime scalloping areas – including portions of the Georges Bank – to help nurture a recovery in groundfish stocks, such as cod, monkfish and yellowtail flounder. Although the impetus for the recent resurgence in scallops is up for debate, few doubt that at least part of the recovery is a result of the regulations.
“It hasn’t taken long to show a robust recovery,” said Jim Kendall, a former scalloper and member of both the New England Fishery Management Council and the New Bedford Seafood Coalition. “The catches and the fish are getting larger. It’s not like we’re fishing on the small ones.”
Added Paul Rago, a fisheries biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service in Woods Hole, Mass.: “It’s probably as good as it’s ever been in terms of daily catch rates (for scallops),” Rago said. “They’re working like crazy.”
The total value that moved through New Bedford’s port in 2001, however, was up only marginally – less than 3 percent from the $146.3 million the port reaped in 2000. Meanwhile, the size of New Bedford’s haul jumped more than 20 percent, to nearly 107 million pounds.
Sound fishy? The problem is crashing scallop prices.
Retail prices have collapsed with so many scallops flooding the market. Whereas a pound of scallops two years ago might have sold for about $7, now scallopers are getting an average of $3.75 a pound.
Still, there are enough scallops to go around, and Kendall said the 100 or so scallop boats that run out of New Bedford’s port have been compensating for the low prices by taking in bigger hauls – a sort of vicious circle that has kept prices damp.
“It’s pretty much a wash,” Kendall said of the phenomenon of increased landings and shrinking prices.
But the growing size of scallop landings in recent years has created another problem for New Bedford’s port: Some say there is not enough shore-side “infrastructure” to support the industry.
When the scallop market shriveled following the federal regulations that took hold in 1994, dozens of scallop boats went belly up. As a result, vendors that rely on the fishing industry – including processors, delivery companies, fuel suppliers and boat-repair shops – closed.
“Those businesses depend on a certain number of boats and a steady flow of fish, and when that gets disrupted, it has an invasive chain-like effect,” Kendall said.
The disappearance of some of those key suppliers has crimped the day-to-day operations of some of the fishing boats that now are scrambling to keep pace with growing harvests. For instance, some days there are long waits for boats to refuel or load ice.
But infrastructure problems aside, it appears the recovery of New Bedford’s scallop industry is full steam ahead – and a surge in newly settled scallops, or baby scallops, could portend healthy years to come.
