Lawmakers Hear Industry, Scientists on Sea Scallops; Council previously halted bid to open northern edge

State senators and fisheries officials on Thursday heard detailed testimony on the status of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, including industry-backed calls to reopen a portion of the northern edge of Georges Bank and to allow limited permit consolidation. The session gathered federal council staff, academics and vessel owners to review recent survey findings, management options and economic impacts on Massachusetts ports.

The hearing matters because the scallop fishery is the Commonwealth’s highest-value commercial fishery and because federal and council decisions affect income in New Bedford and other coastal communities. Witnesses described a recent surge in small scallops that has raised abundance while reducing overall biomass and said that management choices in the next several years will determine whether the fleet and ports recover economically.

Senator Marc P. Montigny, who chaired the hearing, opened by saying he had asked two committees to take testimony jointly and emphasized the intent to move the issue forward. Dan McKernan, director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, outlined the state’s role and introduced the federal-management witnesses. Kate O’Keefe, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council, explained how the council and NOAA Fisheries use stock surveys, catch reporting and rotational-area management to set annual catch limits under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. She noted that the council in April 2024 voted to discontinue consideration of a specific plan to open the northern edge after staff and members found competing objectives that they could not reconcile.

O’Keefe described the 2025 management package currently in effect (Scallop Framework 39, effective April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026) and said the council manages scallops annually using days-at-sea, rotational-area…