Glen LeGeyt, right, watches as cameras are installed on his boat for a scallop project.
By Doreen Leggett
For about a year, Captain Glen LeGeyt carved out half an hour, twice a month, to step inside the shucking house of his vessel the Tricia Lynn and write down precise measurements, as well as take multiple pictures, of a dozen or so scallops his crew dissected.
He’d happily do it again if he has the opportunity.
“We need more information on the scallops because things are changing in the environment and we need to know if it’s for better or worse,” said LeGeyt, on land to work on his boat with his yellow lab Charlie before heading out at midnight.
LeGeyt has been involved in scientific research for much of the 30-plus years he has spent fishing. This work led by Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, CFRF, done in partnership with the Fishermen’s Alliance, seems particularly pressing: LeGeyt and the rest of the small-boat fleet have seen scallop quota vessel caps allotted by federal managers drop by 76 percent since 2016.
“Scallop has that reputation of being well managed, but changes in the environment are happening so rapidly that what managers have been doing may no longer work,” said Melissa Sanderson, chief operating officer of Fishermen’s Alliance.
Waters off the Cape had been warming and becoming more acidic, but changes aren’t uniform and it’s unclear how they are impacting scallops. LeGeyt, who fishes out of Dennis and Harwich, said scallops now seem to be spawning twice a year instead of once, similar to southern waters, but not in every area or year.
“We need to get a better understanding of the productivity, and how common two spawning events are,” said LeGeyt. “More information is never a bad thing.”
To get some of those answers Rebecca Smoak, research biologist at CFRF in Rhode Island, worked with Sanderson, staff at New England Marine Monitoring and five commercial fishermen.
Sanderson explained the research was an expansion of lab-based work the Fishermen’s Alliance did with Coonamessett Farm Foundation in Falmouth, again with a team of commercial fishermen.
Scallops are managed primarily through work done by federal researchers during a short window, coupled with sporadic observer data. Surveys are also only done in specific areas during the early summer. The Northern Gulf of Maine, increasingly important, has traditionally not been included.
“With the waters getting warmer, scallop trends are changing and none of the data that shows weekly or monthly trends is being captured,” Sanderson said. “This was a way to have the industry be part of collecting data year-round – at times and from places where we don’t have data yet. It’s a cost-effective way to collect a lot more data.”
Smoak presented some findings at a recent “RSA share” day. RSA stands for Research Set-Aside; a small portion of the scallop quota is set aside and revenue from fishing that quota funds scientific research.
She said project goals included developing image-based sampling methods, collecting 2000 images of individual scallops, analyzing and extracting data, and education.
One benefit was to build on the current federal model which uses a static shell-height, meat-weight relationship even though those relationships vary seasonally. The new data allows for seasonal relationships to be used in the models.
The work also looked at so-called “grey” or low-quality scallop meats. Some researchers believe the lower quality meats may be linked to energy depletion after spawning.
“Spawning events affect meat quality, weight and ultimately price,” said Smoak.
LeGeyt thinks two spawning events may be a good thing, it could almost double recruitment.
“That’s one of the things we want to find out,” he said. “Scallops vary by area, by water depth. Having a blanket management system doesn’t seem to be working.”
The pilot’s success means it will expand next year, with more fishermen covering a larger area. LeGeyt said the RSA program has been helpful to him because he gets access year-round to an area that is otherwise closed for several months and the scallops he harvests are in addition to his allotted quota.
“It’s a way to keep my business profitable with the current scallop quota being so low,” he said.
Sanderson said since 2022 the Fishermen’s Alliance has been involved in five RSA projects, four scallop and one for monkfish. The economic benefit of the scallop projects to the fleet is at least $4.2 million in additional revenue and has impacted more than 25 fishing businesses.
The work also benefits the industry as whole, as intended.
“This data could eventually be used in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual stock assessments,” Smoak said.