Banner Bay Scallop Year Not All Good News for Fishermen

It has been a bountiful season for the Vineyard’s bay scallop fishery, one of the last places left where fishermen are still able to pull in semi-consistent harvests. But scallopers have struggled to take advantage of the strong season because the spike in supply stressed a distribution network atrophied from years of uncertainty. “The market just closed down, three out of the four main buyers in Edgartown just totally shut down,” said Arno Ewing, who works on John Conlon’s Sengekontacket-based scalloping boat. “I don’t think I’ve seen prices this low in five years.” While earlier in the season scallopers could count on getting $27 per pound for their catch, fishermen on-Island are now only getting around $15. The situation was even more dire last month, when fishermen were hard-pressed to find any buyer at all, said Net Result fish market manager Mike Holtham, who sells scallops locally and to regional distributors. >click to read< 08:03

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