Environment

It may not be boom times, but still plenty of scallops

Opening scallops is a family affair for June, Cliff and Pete Harris, who for the past 12 years have helped Charlie Manwaring open bushels of bay scallops at Southold Fish Market. Both Mr. Manwaring and Braun Seafood's Ken Homan said area businesses are having difficulties finding openers this season. (Credit: Carrie Miller)
Opening scallops is a family affair for June, Cliff and Pete Harris, who for the past 12 years have helped Charlie Manwaring open bushels of bay scallops at Southold Fish Market. Both Mr. Manwaring and Braun Seafood’s Ken Homan said area businesses are having difficulties finding openers this season. (Credit: Carrie Miller)

For the past decade, biologists with LIU Post and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County have worked toward rejuvenating the foundering bay scallop population — and they are not alone.

Thanks to $3.5 million in funding from the Water Quality Protection and Restoration Program of Suffolk County, researchers have been able to introduce about 6 million scallop seedlings back into Peconic Bay waters, in hopes of increasing successful reproduction, or spawning, in the water column, said Stephen Tettelbach, professor of biology at LIU Post.

He said researchers are more than hopeful that restoration efforts are working.

“We do a ton of monitoring and we follow the population more so than anybody else is doing — other than the baymen themselves,” Mr. Tettelbach said. “It’s by our estimation that the baymen have gotten more money from [scallop] landings than what we are spending on the project. There’s very few restoration projects that can say that.”

A number of smaller efforts have also popped up, including a program sponsored by The Nature Conservancy focusing on waters off Shelter Island and a Southold Town sponsored re-seeding effort in Peconic Bay, among others.

In each of the past four seasons, just over 34,000 pounds of scallop meat have been harvested on average, worth almost $475,000, according to state DEC data.

While not the bonanza it once was, the scalloping season still invigorates the local industry and economy, as area baymen and fish markets look forward to a successful catch each year.

“[Opening day] is actually like a holiday in itself,” said Charlie Manwaring, Mr. Harvey’s grandson and the owner of Southold Fish Market. “It helps the whole economy out here. People come out for them and when they are out here they spend money. They make a day trip from up west just to get the scallops.”

Ken Homan of Braun Seafood in Cutchogue said scallops helped to grow his family business, which has since evolved into providing fish markets and restaurants with everything they need, fresh or frozen.

And for them, Monday’s catch offered optimism for what could be a profitable fishing season.

Both Mr. Manwaring and Mike Checklick of Braun Seafood said baymen brought in more than 150 bushels of scallops by mid-afternoon at each of the North Fork locations.

Scallop openers could be seen hard at work at both shops, extracting the meat in seconds with the flick of a knife.

Each commercial fisherman is allowed to take up to 10 bushels of scallops per day and, with two licensed men on board, can take up to 20. Many of the scallopers said they reached that limit Monday.

Mr. Densieski and Mr. Joyce made their way back to the dock with just over 12 bushels of scallops.

While they didn’t reach the limit, their haul was twice the size of last year’s, leaving the pair excited for the days to come.

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