Chatham Bay Scallop Haul Best In Decades

by Tim Wood

            CHATHAM --- After meager harvests most of the past two decades, local fishermen finally have a substantial scallop crop to boost their fall incomes.

            “Everybody was very happy” after the first day of commercial scalloping on Monday, according to Shellfish Constable Stuart Moore.  The season actually opened on Nov. 1, but commercial scalloping is not allowed on Sundays.    

Nothing's sweeter than fresh scallops, except maybe the extra cash they generate just in time for the holidays.  The much anticipated scallop season opened Sunday, and commercial shellfishermen were able to hit the water Monday.  By late Monday morning, four Chatham friends were having a scallop shucking party.  They are, from left, Andy Blanco, Dick Fulcher, Dave Garre, Jr., and Erik Fulcher.  ALAN POLLOCK PHOTO

        On Monday, between 85 and 90 boats were plying the waters of Stage Harbor and the Southway fishing for bay scallops.  Most vessels had two people on board and were pulling in their limit of six bushels per person, Moore said.  Fewer boats were out on Tuesday, but all were still “limiting out,” he said.

            Most recreational shellfishermen who went out for scallops on Sunday also got their limit of one bushel each, Moore said.

            The shellfish constable had anticipated a good season based on scallop sets around the harbors.  So far it was meeting his expectations; he called it the best season in “many, many years.”

            “You’d have to go back to the mid 80s, probably, to experience this,” Moore said.

            Last year’s bay scallop harvest totaled 130 bushels.  The last substantial crop was in 1985, when 11,857 bushels were landed, but even that was about half the total landing of bay scallops from the previous.

            Most of the scallops from the mid 1980s came out of Pleasant Bay.  As of Tuesday, Moore said, there had yet to be any substantial effort to find out if the bay holds scallops this year.  Commercial fishermen are concentrating on the obvious bounty in Stage Harbor and the Southway.

            For years the town has grown scallops in its upwelling system and seeded the waters.  “I like to think we had something to do with it,” he said.  “We tried to maintain some sort of population.  Obviously we didn’t create all these.” The idea is to try to maintain a spawning population and hope that at some point the numbers will grow.  “And it did, for whatever reason,” he noted.

            This isn’t the first time that a large scallop crop has appeared after a dearth of many years, Moore said, adding that the town will continue its seeding efforts in the hopes of maintaining a commercially viable stock.

            “You’ve got to have faith sometimes in this business,” he said.

            As of Tuesday, bay scallops were retailing at Chatham Fish and Lobster for $18.99 a pound. 

11/5/09