Tag Archives: Ken Homan
Peconic Bay Scallops are a legacy at risk
For more than 30 years, Tim Sweat has spent the early morning hours of winter on Peconic Bay. By noon on most days, he would collect thousands of pounds of scallops — enough to cover the daily cost of maintaining his boat, plus put aside some extra money for the holidays. But for the last four years, as bay scallops continue to die off at an alarming rate, he’s finished the season with little to show for his efforts. “I’ve spent most of my life out here on the water; fishing is my whole life. But the future is not looking very promising for the smaller boats like me,” Sweat said. “We’re struggling to make a living out here, things keep dying off.” >click to read< 13:33
Opening day is a no show for scallops and baymen
Shelter Island’s town dock was deserted, not what you expect on opening day for bay scallop fishing. A few minutes later, bayman John Kotula arrived, but not to go scalloping. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Kotula said, ignoring a stiff wind and soul-sapping 39 degrees.,, Keith and Louise Clark of Shelter Island renewed the license for the scallop-processing facility in their basement, an act that was equal parts stubbornness and ungrounded optimism. The death of the adult bay scallops in 2019 was shocking, but hope truly eroded in August of this year when researchers and baymen documented a second mass mortality. >click to read< 07:57
One day into the new season, and there are few if any adult scallops – For Ms. Phillips and her husband, Mark, a commercial fisherman who seems to work around the clock all year long, their family-owned seafood business on the creek in Greenport diversified long ago to help them weather situations like this year’s scallop crop. “But this lack of scallops will really hurt so many people who each year depend on them for their income.” >click to read<
Peconic Bay Scallop Season Off To ‘Decent’ Start
The season, which always begins on the first Monday in November, kicked off last week on Nov. 5, and so far, experts are weighing in and explaining that, with fewer of the beauties available in northern locations, the demand has increased on the East End. Charlie Manwaring, owner of Southold Fish Market, said while the season this year is “okay . . . it’s not as good as last year.” >click to read<21:49
Peconic Bay scallopers asked to slow down due to plentiful harvest
This year’s Peconic Bay scallop harvest is starting off with one of the strongest yields in years, according to local seafood markets and baymen. “It’s definitely a pretty impressive year,” said Charlie Manwaring, owner of Southold Fish Market. During the first week, in fact, so many baymen brought in their 10-bushel limit that he and other market operators asked them to hold off bringing in more so that they could catch up with the oversupply, which strained their ability to shuck and sell the mounds of shellfish. click here to read the story 15:24
Marine biologists, baymen bringing back Peconic Bay scallops – There is a story in every shell. click here to read the story
