Atlantic scallop fishing in the United States has decreased significantly

NEW YORK, Dec. 14 (Reuters) - The New England Fisheries Management Board (NEFMC) said the U.S. Atlantic scallop fleet is on track to harvest 40 million pounds of scallops in the 2021 fishing season, 23 percent less than the 52 million pounds projected in 2020.
2021 will be the lowest since 2015, with 36.9 million pounds in 2015 and more than 42 million pounds per catch in 2016-2020.
NEFMC said fishing projections for the 2020 fishing season had been overestimated and some 36.5 million pounds had been caught, and the Commission was closely following the fishers and was ready to close fishing areas to provide better opportunities for future fishing.
NEFMC plans to send a development team to investigate the possibility of fishing operations in the mid-Atlantic, partially closed area II and Nantucket regions by 2021.
Committee considers that higher levels of scallop species are available for development during the 2021 fishing season in sub-regions of Closed Zone II, with approximately 27.7 million pounds of scallops in Nantucket, accounting for 15 per cent of the total resource-developable biomass.
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