Scallop fishermen and researchers tackle changing seas together
Background image: a pile of Atlantic Sea Scallops.
In the port of Cape May, New Jersey, you might hear a scalloper reminiscing about years of bounty in the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, when a single trip to Elephant Trunk could bring home ten thousand pounds of scallop meat or more.
“The Atlantic sea scallop fishery allows fishermen to prosper,” said Dr. David Bethoney, the Executive Director of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF).
“It offers stability and wealth to the region and is a fishery that young fishermen can enter.”
Background image: A fishing vessel with atlantic sea scallops and other fish
The Atlantic fishery is the largest wild scallop fishery in the world, making the U.S. a global leader in scallop exports. It remains one of the most valuable fisheries in the U.S., with the 2023 harvest estimated at 27.4 million pounds worth $360 million.
Background image: Map displaying Atlantic Sea Scallop Managed Waters in 2025
But fishermen are noticing shifting seas.
In recent years, scallops in the southern Mid-Atlantic haven’t grown to commercial size as quickly as they used to. Thinning shells break during dredging. Productive scallop landings are shifting northward. Landing catch far from home is shifting revenue away from the fishermen’s home ports and the local businesses where they buy groceries and fuel. Year-round scalloping is becoming more difficult, pushing many fishermen to consider diversifying into other fisheries once their scallop quota is filled.
With the changing ocean, fishing communities need resilient strategies to sustain the prosperity of this valuable fishery. This often requires a more responsive management strategy informed both by science and community knowledge.
Background image: Scallop fishing vessels
Working toward responsive management
To this end, a team of researchers co-led by Dr. Samantha Siedlecki at the University of Connecticut and Dr. Shannon Meseck at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, funded by NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program, is investigating how environmental data can support adaptive, responsive management in a changing ocean.
In partnership with Bethoney and CFRF, the researchers launched a series of workshops in 2022 in port towns along the Atlantic coast. The workshops opened up a two-way exchange of knowledge between scientists and the fishing community. Researchers shared how changing ocean conditions like warming temperatures and ocean acidification can impact scallop growth and survival. Fishermen described the changes they were observing and voiced concerns about the future of the fishery.
“In response to the fishermen’s concerns and information, we adjusted our research to investigate those questions and report our findings back to the fishery,” said Siedlecki.
The issue of thinning scallop shells wasn’t initially part of the research project, but quickly became a focus. Halle Berger, a PhD student in Siedlecki’s lab, began analyzing how shell thickness had changed over time. At workshops, she brought shells for fishermen to examine and compare to their recent catch. Berger trained others who conduct surveys in the Mid-Atlantic to also measure shell thickness.
“This is a very proactive fishery,” said Meseck, who studies how ocean acidification affects sea scallop physiology.
“The fishermen want to come up with sustainable solutions so they can keep on fishing. We became a resource to help them understand what was happening to this industry and their livelihood.”
That responsiveness built trust. Researchers returned each year to share findings, answer new questions, and incorporate fishermen-collected data into a spatial tool known as a dynamic energy budget model, or DEB. The model predicts where and how fast scallops will grow, using environmental inputs including water temperature and ocean chemistry, along with Meseck’s physiological data.
“Giving the fishery spatial management tools is essential for a long-lived species like Atlantic sea scallops,” said Siedlecki.
“Understanding how environmental change might be playing a role in how scallops grow and projecting growth out to 100 years is important for a species that can live for two decades.“
Ultimately, fishermen and scientists worked together to recommend strategies for resilience to the New England Fishery Management Council.
Strong partnership, resilient fishery
This work is reshaping how science informs responsive fisheries management. “A key aspect of this effort is the researchers’ commitment to outreach and community involvement as a critical component of the project,” said Bethoney.
“The researchers are truly invested in the partnership with the fishing community.”
Dr. James LaChance, a social scientist at the University of Maryland, emphasized how these relationships strengthen the science. “Now I can call a fisherman to see how it’s going, and they will call me with their ideas,” he said.
“The community’s involvement directly impacts the success of resilience strategies.“
The fishermen and researchers continue to work together to adapt to our changing ocean and move forward with new projects addressing concerns of the fishery.
For more information and to get involved in future workshops:
Credits:
Atlantic Sea Scallops. NOAA Fisheries; Scallops on deck in the Mid-Atlantic. NOAA Fisheries; Scallop auction in New Bedford. James LaChance; Map of Atlantic Scallop Management Waters 2024. NOAA Fisheries; Scallop fishing vessels in Seaford, VA. Dvora Hart, NOAA Fisheries; Barnegat Lighthouse, New Jersey. Adobe Stock; Industry workshop at Viking Village, Barnegat Light, NJ. Victoria Thomas, CFRF; Illustration of Atlantic Sea Scallop management. Yesenia Carrero, UConn; Juvenile Sea Scallops. NOAA; Halle Berger with scallop shells. NOAA OAP; Fishing boat in the Northeast. NOAA Fisheries; James LaChance presenting at a project workshop at the New Bedford fishing heritage center. Becca Selden;
