Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven, Chilmark and Aquinnah are all looking forward to a good bay scallop season this fall. With the commercial season still a week or two away or more, depending on the town, fishermen are readying small boats, drags and other gear.

Forecasters, aka shellfish constables, are cautiously optimistic.

“Nobody wants to forecast a better season than we actually get,” said Paul Bagnall, Edgartown shellfish constable. “I’d rather err on the other side, be conservative,” the longtime constable said.

Still, Edgartown, which has a traditionally rich scallop fishery and once led the state in bay scallop landings, is on the upswing. Conservatively, Mr. Bagnall predicted this year’s harvest will be the best in 10 years. “That is not saying much. The older shellfishermen remember when we used harvest 20,000 to 25,000 bushels a winter,” he said. In those days there were over 180 commercial permit holders. Mr. Bagnall is expecting 65 this year.

The recreational season opened in Edgartown on Oct. 1. The commercial season opened in small section of Sengekontacket Pond on Oct. 15, another positive Edgartown shellfishing story: Sengekontacket has bay scallops.

Remaining areas in town open to commercial scalloping on Nov. 2.

The family limit is one struck 10-gallon washbasket a week. The commercial limit is three struck 10-gallon washbaskets daily.

There are bay scallops on the Oak Bluffs side of Sengekontacket, too, although shellfish constable David Grunden is not predicting a banner year. “It is just better than last year,” he said.

And hopes for a good scallop set on the Oak Bluffs side of Lagoon Pond were dashed earlier this year. “The seed we watched last winter didn’t make it,” Mr. Grunden said. “The commercial bay scallopers will get a few weeks out of the season.”

The recreational season in Oak Bluffs opened on Oct. 17, except the Lagoon which opens Oct. 31. The commercial season opens on Oct. 26 outside the ponds, and on Nov. 2 on the ponds. The family limit is one heaping bushel limit per week. The commercial limit is five struck bushels daily outside the ponds and three struck bushels daily on the ponds. Fishermen who work both areas will be limited to three struck bushels daily.

In Aquinnah, where the bay scallops have been large and plentiful in recent years, recreational shellfishermen are already out on Menemsha Pond. Shellfish constable Chip Vanderhoop said he is hopeful about the fishery, but there is plenty of eelgrass to move around before an accuate prediction can be made.

Bret Stearns, natural resources director for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) said he recently did an underwater scuba diving survey and saw a lot of scallops, although there were more juveniles than adults. The tribe is completing a three-year, federally-funded bay scallop restoration program which included stocking the pond with juvenile scallops.

The recreational season in Aquinnah began on Oct. 8. Family fishermen are limited to one struck bushel per week. Last night the town shellfish committee met to recommend a date for the start of the commercial season, usually in late November. Mr. Vanderhoop said the commercial limit is usually three struck bushels daily.

The Tisbury side of Lagoon Pond has bay scallops but there was no veteran constable to call for predictions this week; the town and shellfish committee are still mourning the loss of constable Derek Cimeno, who died Sept. 14 at the age of 39.

Hillary Conklin, who is sharing constable duties with town harbor master Jay Wilbur, said the town is expecting a modest season on the Lagoon and in the outer harbor.

Lake Tashmoo will not open for bay scalloping to protect seed.

The outer harbor opened for family permit holders on Oct. 17. The commercial season opened there Oct. 19.

Lagoon Pond opens to family scallopers on Oct. 31, the same as Oak Bluffs. Likewise, the commercial season in the pond begins Nov. 2. Tisbury family fishermen are limited to one level bushel per week. The Tisbury commercial limit is three struck bushels daily.

And in Chilmark? “It will be an okay year,” predicted shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer. “Quitsa is paved with seed. There is so much seed,” he said.

The Chilmark recreational season opened on Oct. 1. Family fishermen are limited to half a bushel per week. The commercial season opens Nov. 2; the limit is two struck bushels daily.

Those who love to eat bay scallops may stand to gain the most this winter, some predict. Good seasons are expected on Nantucket and in Chatham, and Bourne and Falmouth may have some bay scallops too this year. There are also reports that at least one town on Long Island may have some bay scallops.

“The consumer may be the winner this year because of availability,” said Louis Larsen, who owns the Net Result, a fish market in Vineyard Haven.