Edgartown selectmen voted unanimously to suspend Nick Viera’s scalloping license for three years after the shellfish constable found high levels of seed scallops in his haul.
The 83-foot sea-scalloper Stanley M. Fisher, Capt. George H. Fisher of Oak Bluffs, came up with perhaps the biggest catch of this or any other season last Thursday night, the Navy’s nuclear powered submarine, the U.S.S. Nautilus.
It’s November, and that means bay scallop season has arrived on the Vineyard. But by most accounts, it will be an average to poor year for scalloping, both up Island and down.
Edgartown selectmen voted Monday to extend the bay scalloping season in Katama Bay for an additional two weeks to account for available scallops and lost fishing days because of the weather.
It’s been a banner year for bay scallops in Edgartown, with town selectmen voting this week to allow commercial scalloping on Saturdays through the end of the season.
Tisbury selectmen Tuesday set dates for the scallop season; family scalloping begins Saturday, Oct. 15, outside the Lagoon and Tashmoo. The commercial season opens Oct. 17.
Lagoon Pond was closed to scalloping on the Vineyard Haven side, effective Wednesday morning. At a meeting Tuesday, the Tisbury selectmen voted to follow the shellfish constable’s recommendation to close the pond, but decided to keep the outer harbor open until Dec. 31.
Selectmen this week tried to broker a compromise solution in a heated dispute among town shellfishermen over the closing of Sengekontacket Pond to bay scalloping on the Oak Bluffs side.
