Scallopers Dredge Up Good Times Again

Herman Bruce watches sparks fly from the rudder of his scallop-fishing boat as a welder in the bustling Fairhaven Shipyard finishes extensive repairs. The bill for the job will be hefty--more than $30,000--but Bruce isn’t flinching.

The scalloping industry has bounced back from a near-death experience caused by shrinking stocks and a cautious government. Bruce and other fishermen, who for six years barely earned enough to get by, are now hauling in bountiful catches that provide the cash to pay for long-postponed repairs.

“It was an excellent year,” the 61-year-old lifelong fisherman said. “Things are wonderful right now.”

The good times started last year, when one of three closed fishing areas in scallop-rich Georges Bank was reopened. In 1999, the sea scallop catch nearly doubled from 12.2 million pounds to 22.4 million pounds, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. In dollar terms, the catch rose from about $76 million in 1998 to $123 million.

This year, all three of the Georges Bank areas are open for the first time since 1994. As a result, the scallop catch could nearly double again to 44 million pounds by next year, said Andrew Applegate, a biologist with the New England Fishery Management Council, which oversees the scallop fishery.

Who should get credit for the dramatic rebound is debatable. But whatever combination of industry, government and nature is responsible, the turnaround coincides with a rare level of cooperation between fishermen and regulators.

“I look at it as a real success story,” said Teri Frady, spokeswoman for the fisheries service.

In 1994, scallopers were shut out of their prime fishing grounds when federal regulators closed sections of Georges Bank and the Nantucket Lightship fishing area to protect diminishing stocks of cod and other groundfish. Later regulations slashed crew sizes and the number of fishing days per season, and imposed gear changes that allowed smaller scallops to escape the scallopers’ dredges.

“It was a hell of a hard hit to take,” New Bedford boat owner Martin Manley said.

Scallopers concede that populations were diminished. But where managers saw a depleted fishery, scallopers saw nothing more than a cyclical dip.

Frustration grew in the subsequent years as more scallopers dredged in a smaller area for fewer scallops. The industry lost about a third of its work force, said Marjorie Orman at the Fisheries Survival Fund, a scalloper advocacy group based in Fairhaven. Many boat owners stuck it out only because their assets were linked to boat mortgages.

“Everyone was going broke,” said scalloper Larry Yacubian of Fairhaven, a fishing and resort city about 55 miles south of Boston. “The people who owned boats couldn’t get out. Our whole lives were tied up in it.”

While boats dredged for paltry hauls, boat owners seethed because they were convinced that scallops were abundant in closed areas. Stories of plentiful scallops circulated around the fleet after some captains fished in the closed areas at the risk of huge fines and penalties that could have put them out of business.

“Desperate men do desperate things,” Bruce said.

In March 1998, scallopers formed the Fisheries Survival Fund, which successfully lobbied the government for permits to do its own scientific measurements of the scallop population.

That summer, scientists from the University of Massachusetts surveyed the closed grounds and found 70 million pounds of scallops on the ocean floor, prompting a reopening of part of Georges Bank in 1999. The results were impressive and immediate. Yacubian said his dredges were full of huge, healthy shellfish almost as soon as he dropped them in the water.

To the fisheries service, today’s bounty is a direct result of yesterday’s planning. Scallops take about three to five years to reach ideal size. The fishery got a much-needed break, and now the fleet is healthy again.

“These are scallops that fishery management made,” Frady said.

To scallopers, the success is more a result of the government giving them a chance to prove what they already knew. At the same time, they admit that the regulations imposed on them have made their lives easier. Smaller crews mean lower costs, and they can still make a comfortable living despite the shortened season.

But also at work are factors beyond the control of the industry and government. Scientists say scallop reproduction has been exceptionally good in recent years, and the fishing grounds have escaped severe storms that could devastate the stocks. Another potential problem is a lawsuit by environmentalists, who claim fishery managers haven’t adequately assessed the effect of reopening the scalloping areas.

Despite the future’s uncertainties, Bruce is optimistic. He recently gave up the physical demands of scalloping to manage his two boats from shore.

And as he steps back, a little wistful about the freedom he enjoyed at sea, Bruce says the business of scalloping is as healthy as it has been in a long time.

“You go out, you do your thing offshore, you’re not bound by a clock,” he says. “There are a lot of pluses to it, and it’s an even better job now.”

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On the Net:

New England Fisheries Management Council: https://www.nefmc.org.

National Marine Fisheries Service: https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov.