Tag Archives: Peconic Bay scallop
Peconic Bay Scallop: After disappointing seasons in 2019, ’20, the outlook remains bleak
Last week, Steve Tettelbach, head of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Peconic Bay Scallop Restoration Program, finished up a series of dives at the seven sites from Flanders to Montauk,,, “At six of our seven sites, the average density declined by 64% to 99% between May and late August, and the highest die-off occurred at the three sites with the highest initial densities in spring 2021,” Mr. Tettelbach said. Only the site in Napeague Harbor saw an increase in bay scallop numbers over the course of the summer. Bay scallops in New York waters are supposed to live about 18 months. Why have bay scallops in the Peconic Bay system died months prematurely en masse for three years in a row? >click to read< 16:04
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<
‘They all died’ – Peconic Bay scallop harvesting season appears lost
Peconic Bay scallops, which endured a historic die-off last year, appear to have suffered an even worse fate this year as baymen say early trips show none are to be found, and researchers continue to study multiple potential causes. The scallop harvest season, which starts Monday and continues through March 31, is expected to be a wipeout, fishermen say. Longtime Peconic bayman Bob Bourguignon from Flanders said he and two other longtime baymen took a recent trip to survey some of the best scallop grounds in the Peconic and Shinnecock Bay and found not a single harvestable scallop. >video, click to read< 07:25
Marine Biologist Doubts Parasite Was Only Cause of Bay Scallop Collapse
A parasite that the New York State commissioner of environmental conservation called “a significant threat” to the Peconic Bay scallop fishery has been detected in a sample of bay scallops from Shelter Island — and may have been a factor in the near total collapse of the adult scallop population throughout the estuary last year. A type of single-cell protozoan from a group known as coccidia, the parasite found,, >click to read< 17:17
Cuomo requests federal disaster declaration, aid for scallop die-off
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday requested the U.S. Department of Commerce issue a disaster declaration for the Peconic Bay scallop fishery, following a catastrophic die-off of scallops in East End waterways. An immediate declaration of a disaster is needed, he said, to provide “direct economic relief for the New York fishing industry.” In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Cuomo requested that the federal government formally declare a fishery failure in the bay scallop fishery in the Peconic Bay Estuary due to a “fishery resource disaster.” >click to read< 15:19
Scallop die-off in Peconic Bay takes toll on local economy. Experts Search For Answers
Just one week after the opening of the Peconic Bay scallop season, the harsh reality is setting in: Most of the adult scallops in Peconic Bay are dead. “The scallop season, it’s nonexistent,” commercial fisherman Bob Hamilton said. “I didn’t even bother putting the dredges on my boat.” Video, >click to read< 10:59
Experts Search For Answers To Peconic Bay Scallop Disaster – Facing the worst devastation to the Peconic Bay scallop season in more than a decade, experts are searching desperately for answers. >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 scallop season off to a slow on Long Island
Long Island fishermen are saying that it’s a challenging year for Peconic Bay scallops, with the first day’s harvest “less than half” of what it was last year, said manager Keith Reda at Braun Seafood Co. in Cutchogue. The season begins on the first Monday of November and runs through the end of March. By late afternoon Monday, Reda hadn’t seen a Peconic Bay scallop yet. “They’re still out there, looking,” he said of the shop’s fisherman suppliers. The Seafood Shop in Wainscott was preparing on Monday to sell its first three bushels, the harvest from the first of the shop’s five fishing boats that left docks around sunrise. The Seafood Shop will sell bay scallops for about $29 a pound if the supply is slim and $25 if it’s plentiful — or as demand falls after the New Year and the water gets especially cold. Read the rest here 14:44
