Following the early closure of the scalloping season in Aquinnah, town officials and shellfish biologists are trying to understand the unexpected decline in the number of adult scallops this year. The season closed Nov. 15 in response to a lack of adult scallops; a black algae was also observed growing on many of the scallop shells.
Dragging for bay scallops is now prohibited in Edgartown when the air temperature falls below 30 degrees fahrenheit. The change from 28 to 30 degrees is intended to protect bay scallop seed, especially the small seed growing at Cape Pogue.
At around 6 a.m. Wednesday, Cooper Gilkes and his son Daniel were in their kitchen in Edgartown wearing orange and yellow waders, getting ready for another morning on the water. The longtime fishermen have been enjoying an especially strong start to the commercial bay scalloping season.
Bay scallop season opened Wednesday in Edgartown for family permit holders, and Oak Bluffs will be quick to follow with a season that begins on Oct. 18. Commercial season opens later in October.
Family scalloping opened in the Lagoon Pond Saturday and Islanders took advantage of a mild November day to go out and collect heaping baskets. Once found from Cape Cod to Long Island, wild bay scallops are now largely unique to southeastern Massachusetts.
Family scalloping begins in Edgartown Oct. 1. In Oak Bluffs Sengekontacket Pond opens Oct. 12 for family scallopers. In both towns the forecast for the season is fair.
It’s been a particularly successful year for bay scalloping in Chilmark, town shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer confirmed this week, with landings way up for both commercial and recreational shellfishermen. In a voicemail left for the Gazette, Mr. Scheffer reported that to date commercial shellfishermen have landed over 2,000 bushels of scallops while recreational fishermen have landed 245 bushels.
Bay scallops are again being shipped to the mainland after a slowdown in the market two weeks ago. On Nov. 30, several local handlers of wholesale seafood reported having difficulty finding markets on the mainland, with some shellfishermen told to stay out of the waters until demand increased.
As of last week, lines to the mainland had been reopened.
Bay scallopers in Chilmark are being asked to concentrate on Nashaquitsa Pond until early next month in order to make the most efficient use of a healthy crop of scallops this year.
The Chilmark selectmen voted Tuesday to close Menemsha Pond to scalloping from Nov. 21 through Dec. 3, and increase the daily limit in Quitsa to three struck bushels. The selectmen also agreed to open the area outside of Chocker’s Creek from the eastern buoy defining the closed area to the town line beginning Nov. 21.
