Peconic Bay Scallop Season Off To Less Than Stellar Start, Again

NORTH FORK, NY — It's a tradition as old as time on the North Fork: The first day of Peconic Bay scallop season, when baymen would, for generations, bring in the haul that had hungry fans salivating for their first taste of the mouthwatering morsels of deliciousness.

But on Monday, local North Fork purveyors told Patch that the Peconic Bay scallop season was off to a less than stellar start, for the fourth year in a row.

Charlie Manwaring, owner of Southold Fish Market, told Patch that baymen had only brought in about two bushels Monday; others only received less than 20 pounds.

Manwaring, however, said he believes the yield might be a bit better during the winter months, when baymen who are currently out on the water seeking other types of fish turn their attention to the scallops, which promise less of a yield than in years' past.

Keith Reda, general manager at Braun Seafood Market Co. in Cutchogue, told Patch that the pickings were "slim" Monday. Whatever baymen had brought in was already sold by Tuesday morning, he said, and, due to Tuesday's windy conditions, he said he didn't expect to see any Peconic Bay scallops at all that day.

There were some Peconic Bay scallops to be found, and the baymen that did go out Monday were able to "pick away at a little," Reda said — but they didn't bring home anywhere near the 10 bushel limit, he said. "At least they can go out and get a day's pay," he said.

Right now, the scallops are priced at $39 per pound at Braun's, he said. "I can't see that going down," Reda said, noting that scallops from Nantucket and Cape Cod are even more pricey.

When asked why the scallops have been so elusive, Reda said: "I don't think they have it figured out yet. Sometimes, you have to just let Mother Nature do her thing and stop messing with it."

There was another die off of the scallops in August and September this year, he added.

"They have a short life cycle, 18 to 24 months. If scallops are born too early, they just don't make it back to the following season."

Reda agreed with Manwaring, who said the baymen are still out fishing sea bass, conching, and clamming, so they don't have as many fishermen out scalloping as they potentially could during the winter months.

"They're saying that they don't have their dredges ready," he said. "The yield is not really good, so nobody is really gung-ho, saying, 'Let me go scalloping.' They say they're not going to bother; that maybe they'll try next week."

Those waiting for their first taste of the season were disappointed once again last year when few scallops were available; as the winter wore on, baymen began bringing them in, but the prices were high.

For the past two years, fishermen and seafood shop owners alike have dubbed the grim situation "a wash," after an almost complete die-off — with simply no scallops to be had.

According to Stephen Tettlebach, a shellfish ecologist at Cornell Cooperative Extension who has been working on bay scallop restoration for 17 years, last year, once again, the adult scallop population in Peconic Bay did not survive.

"I anticipate the harvest this year will be very poor, due to a mass die-off of adults for the third year in a row," he said at the time. "There seem to be a few more adults around compared to last year, but not enough to make for a substantial catch."

When asked what factors led to the dearth of Peconic Bay scallops, Tettleback said the data collected strongly suggested the die-offs are due to a combination of high water temperature, disease, and the physiological stress of spawning. The die-offs occurred throughout the Peconic Bays, with the majority of the mortality having occurred by late July, he said.

But, he added last year, all was not lost.

"The good news is that there was another good spawn this year, before the adults died, and there are a lot of juvenile scallops out there. We plan to continue our restoration efforts and are embarking on a couple of new projects to selectively breed bay scallops that are more resistant to high water temperatures and the disease."