Tag Archives: Jonathon Peros

Regulators see hard years ahead for the scallop fishery, New Bedford’s cash cow

Scientists report that young scallops off the eastern seaboard have been struggling to grow to maturity for nearly a decade now, constraining one of the nation’s most lucrative fisheries to its lowest biomass in more than 20 years. In a presentation before the New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday, the council’s scallop analyst Jonathon Peros projected that the latest regulations adopted by the council will cap next year’s scallop harvest at 25 million pounds, a steep drop from a record harvest of 61 million pounds recorded just four years earlier. >click to read< 09:45

Atlantic sea scallops at lowest biomass in over 20 years and what that means for New Bedford

A Scallop Survey Report presented at the NEFMC meeting Tuesday showed the Atlantic Sea scallop fishery is facing its lowest biomass in over 20 years. Throughout the NEFMC jurisdiction, the survey estimated a biomass decrease of almost 30%. The Georges Bank region saw the largest drop, around 36%. Tyler Miranda, a scalloper Captain and owner who came to prominence during the recent scallop license allocation debate, said that though it is of concern, the announcement does not worry him too much. “Obviously I worry, but what I’ve come to realize about the scallop industry is it fluctuates year to year,” Justin Mello said he felt similarly. “I’m only gonna go into the areas they allow us to, that’s why they call it fishing and not catching.” >click to read< 14:20