Tag Archives: Maine scallop season

Dec. 1 – Scallop season opens with high hopes

smr_scalloping-042After an eight-month hiatus when, like summer tourists, the only scallops in local stores are “from away,” the Maine scallop fishing season is finally opening, at least for a handful of harvesters. All along the coastline, licensed scallop divers are allowed to start fishing for the succulent bivalves today, Thursday, Dec. 1. Dragger fishermen will have to wait to wet their gear until next Monday, Dec. 5. The season opens on an optimistic note. Over the past five years, scallop landings have increased steadily, from just over 175,000 pounds of scallop meats (about 1.5 million pounds in the shell) during 2011 to almost 453,000 pounds in 2015. According to Trisha Cheney, a resource management coordinator at the Department of Marine Resources, 635 harvesters—77 divers and 558 draggers–had licenses to fish for scallops last year and are eligible to get licenses in 2016. Of that group, Cheney said, 445 licensed harvesters actually participated in the fishery. There were, she said, 52 active divers, 373 active draggers and 20 “unknown” harvesters who DMR can’t identify as working in either category. In 2009, only 168 harvesters fished for scallops in Maine. Read the story here 21:32

Maine: Scallop season is under way, but maybe not for long

mkMaine’s winter scallop season opened last Tuesday, Dec. 1, and divers working in Blue Hill’s Salt Pond and outer harbor — both closed to draggers — got a nice surprise. According to Trisha Cheney of the Department of Marine Resources, divers in both areas were able to harvest their 15-gallon daily limit on opening day and the scallops they landed fetched an excellent price. Just how long the good news will last, around Blue Hill or elsewhere Downeast, is an open question. Read the article here 11:14

Maine: Scallopers gear up for season start

SMR_Scalloping-292-1200x795For many fishermen, the end of the inshore lobster season will mean it’s time to begin rigging up the scallop drags on their boats. Final details for the 2015-2016 Maine scallop season were approved last week by the Department of Resources (DMR) Advisory Council and adopted on Monday by the department. The seasons for scallop diving and dragging in Zone 2, which runs from roughly the middle of Western Penobscot Bay to Lubec, begin Dec. 1. Dragging in Zone 3, which includes the popular, sheltered-from-winter-weather Cobscook Bay bottom, begins the same day. Read the rest here 15:56

Maine scallop season strongest in 12 years – fishermen caught 424,547 pounds of scallop meat

scallop seasonMaine’s four-month scallop season that ended in March apparently will be the state’s strongest in years, despite a harsh winter and new regulations unpopular with some fishermen, preliminary data show. Read more here  21:03