Last year’s bay scallop season ended with mixed results, but fishermen had a reason to be hopeful. In the water there was a large amount of immature scallops that were too young to be harvested.
Those scallops have now grown up, and this year is shaping up to be a good one for the fishery. David Berube, an Edgartown scalloper, said that in 50 years he had never seen so much seed.
“Last winter when we fished we saw a lot of small ones that would be adults this year,” he said.
Mr. Berube was one of a handful of Edgartown scallopers who asked the town to open the season earlier this year to take advantage of the abundant crop. The town approved the request and the commercial season for bay scallops in Edgartown began Oct. 21, nine days earlier than last year.
On the first day of the season, Mr. Berube sold his scallops to retail stores for $23 per pound. The price crept down to $18 but is now back to around $20 per pound.
“You get spoiled in the beginning with a slightly bigger paycheck and then you go back to reality,” he said. “I’m still hoping it will climb until the first of the year.”
Edgartown shellfish constable Rob Morrison said the first week of commercial scalloping saw participation up by 33 per cent compared to last year and 1,289 bushels were harvested in the first nine days.
“Good news spreads fast and there’s more opportunity with a good crop,” Mr. Morrison said. “People got boats ready, they were prepared for a good scallop crop this year.”
The Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group supplies the Island towns with scallop seed. They raise baby scallops to approximately one to two millimeters before giving them to the shellfish constables who distribute the seed in the water.
Emma Green-Beach, the organization’s executive director, said there are a number of variables that contribute to the success of the seed, including weather and the quality of the phytoplankton scallops eat.
“We can’t make grand claims about exactly how the seed that we grow turns into a fishery because the towns, the constables, the shellfish departments are the intermediaries,” she said. “And mother nature is really running the show.”
Other towns have also seen an uptick this fall. In Chilmark, there are about eight commercial scallopers trying their luck, according to the town’s shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer.
“It’s more than normal. We haven’t had a good scallop season in about six years. Traditionally, it’s usually like three guys on the tougher years because the incentive is not there,” he said.
Chris Mayhew, a commercial fisherman, decided to try his hand at commercial scalloping for the first time this season.
“It’s been good so far. It’s the first year we’ve actually had something in a while,” Mr. Mayhew said. “There seemed to be a bigger seed last year.”
In Tisbury, the numbers have surpassed last year according to shellfish constable Danielle Ewart, although the amount of commercial scallopers — around three or four — are in line with recent years. Last year, Tisbury had to end its season early because people started harvesting the seed.
“It’s steady,” Ms. Ewart said. “I’m getting reports that the size of the meats inside of the scallops are really good size.”
Denny Jason, who has been scalloping commercially in Menemsha Pond for almost 20 years, said it is still too early to tell just how successful the season will be. Mr. Jason has made as much as $30 per pound and as little as $9 per pound in his time as a commercial scalloper, so the season’s price point thus far is not something he is taking for granted.
“It’s a pretty good price as far as the years go,” he said. “Hopefully it stays like that . . . . When it works, it works, and it’s beautiful. It’s definitely an awesome thing.”
At the fish markets, the price for customers has varied this year. It started at about $40 per pound and is currently hovering at around $35 per pound.
“Right now, it depends not just on here, but also what they are going to pull out on Nantucket and on the Cape,” said Peter Lambos, general manager of the Fish House. “Every year when the season starts, everyone is dying to get their hands on some fresh bays....This year, it seems things are holding steady.”
Andrew Dimattia, one of the owners of Edgartown Seafood, echoed the refrain.
“This season it’s pretty plentiful, which is pretty nice, but that means that the price went down for the fishermen too, so they’re not making as much,” he said.
Tubby Medeiros, a scalloper in Edgartown, said that he believes the season will continue to stay strong.
“Long as the weather stays good, it will be good,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but we’re making a good day’s pay.”
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