Bay scallop season opened Wednesday in Edgartown for family permit holders, and Oak Bluffs will be quick to follow with a season that begins on Oct. 18. Commercial season opens later in October.
Bay scallop season opened Wednesday in Edgartown for family permit holders, and Oak Bluffs will be quick to follow with a season that begins on Oct. 18. Commercial season opens later in October.
A portion of Lagoon Pond on the Vineyard Haven side was closed to bay scalloping this week to protect a healthy crop of seed scallops in the area.
Family scalloping opened in the Lagoon Pond Saturday and Islanders took advantage of a mild November day to go out and collect heaping baskets. Once found from Cape Cod to Long Island, wild bay scallops are now largely unique to southeastern Massachusetts.
Family scalloping begins in Edgartown Oct. 1. In Oak Bluffs Sengekontacket Pond opens Oct. 12 for family scallopers. In both towns the forecast for the season is fair.
It’s been a particularly successful year for bay scalloping in Chilmark, town shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer confirmed this week, with landings way up for both commercial and recreational shellfishermen. In a voicemail left for the Gazette, Mr. Scheffer reported that to date commercial shellfishermen have landed over 2,000 bushels of scallops while recreational fishermen have landed 245 bushels.
Bay scallops are again being shipped to the mainland after a slowdown in the market two weeks ago. On Nov. 30, several local handlers of wholesale seafood reported having difficulty finding markets on the mainland, with some shellfishermen told to stay out of the waters until demand increased.
As of last week, lines to the mainland had been reopened.
