Tag Archives: commercial scalloping season
Nantucket’s Commercial Scalloping Harvest Tops 8,000 Bushels
Nantucket’s commercial scalloping season comes to an end today, and the harvest by island fishermen will top 8,000 bushels for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Scallopers, along with officials from the Nantucket Shellfish Association and the town’s Natural Resources Department, all said they were pleased to see the final number above 8,000 bushels, a small but not insignificant increase over last season’s total of 7,329 bushels. Bruce Cowan was among the few scallopers still fishing on Thursday, and he returned to Old South Wharf with his five-bushel limit and a smile on his face just before noon. Even with heavy rain and wind gusts expected to top 40 mph today, he said he was still thinking about getting out there for the final day of the season. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:45
Nantucket’s Commercial Scalloping Season Opens With “Cautious Optimism”
Nantucket’s 2023-24 commercial scalloping season began Wednesday under cloudy skies, along with some wind and rain, as the hunt for the island’s prized shellfish was renewed. About 15 scallop boats were out in Nantucket Harbor, along with another five in Madaket Harbor Island fish markets set the wholesale price paid to scallopers at $15 to $18 per pound, down from the start of last season, and the retail prices ranged from $20 to $25 per pound. But all of that – the number of boats out fishing, the prices, and the demand – will be fleshed out and subject to change as the first week of fishing rolls along, said Samantha Denette, executive director of the Nantucket Shellfish Association. “It’s always cautious optimism and trying to be optimistic,” Denette said. “We’re not looking at a banner year but we’re not looking at a dud either. I feel good about us being in the middle. But we can’t make the call on day one if it’s going to be either/or.” >>click to read<< 08:55
Slim pickings for Nantucket scallopers on opening day
Optimism was in short supply as commercial scalloping season opened this morning, but the dock price, the price paid to fishermen for a pound of shucked scallops, was almost double what it was on opening day last year: $22 per pound, compared to $12 in 2020. At Sayle’s Seafood, scallops were selling retail for $35 per pound this afternoon. Souza’s Seafood had yet to set a price. Bob DeCosta, who has been working the waters here for decades, “I just think there aren’t a lot of scallops. It’s not like last year. But we’ll see. The fleet is small and the price is good. >click to read< 17: 11
