Peconic Bay 2025 scallop harvest remains poor

The 2025 scallop season got off to a rough start in Peconic Bay on Monday, and the prospect of a bountiful haul is not looking good for the fifth straight year.

Charlie Manwaring, owner of the popular Southold Fish Market, said he has about 30 to 40 bushels right now and expects a few more later this week, but doesn’t expect a good year.

“The season sucks. Period. There’s not a lot. It is what it is,” Mr. Manwaring told The Suffolk Times. “We will have some scallops tomorrow. For a couple days, we’re probably going to have some scallops for sale, but it’s probably going to be hit or miss.”

Bay scallops can be harvested from the first Monday in November to March 31. According to the state regulations, they must be 2-1/4 inch length from mid-hinge to mid-bill and display an annual growth ring.

The dwindling population in Peconic Bay has been attributed to a number of factors, including warming water due to climate change, low oxygen levels and new parasites. According to Cornell Cooperative Extension, in 2019 and 2020, an average of 97% adult scallops died off after spawning. Similar mortality events have happened each year through 2024.

These mass die-offs have consistently occurred after the first annual scallop spawn, allowing populations to sustain themselves. CCE is working to restore the population by spawning scallops in their hatchery, The Suffolk Times previously reported. 

According to the CCE website, the program established a large spawner sanctuary with scallops stocked at high density in nets to protect them from predators, so that when scallops reproduce, they contribute larvae to the Peconic Bays and help rebuild populations and commercial fisheries.

Mr. Manwaring declined to speculate as to why the harvest is poor again this year.