Cobscook Bay area scallop fishermen were finding an abundance of scallops, a good price and fewer draggers from other ports, with the opening of the state's scallop season on December 1. With a smaller number of boats fishing, fishermen hope that the season in the state's Zone 3, which is set at 50 days, will last longer than in 2013-14, when it was closed after 29 days.
     Last year the number of draggers in the bay rose from 112 on the opening day to 134, but this year only 75 boats were fishing in the Cobscook area on the opening day, with just 20 to 25 draggers from outside the bay. "Some [fishermen] just chose to stay closer to home," says Maine Marine Patrol Officer Russell Wright of Lubec. Referring to the state's rotational closure plan for scallops, he notes, "They opened areas down the shore that were not open for a few years." In Zone 2, seven areas that had been closed for the past two seasons were opened for harvest, while areas that had been open for the past two seasons were closed. Eastport fisherman Scott Emery adds that the 10-gallon daily catch limit in the Cobscook Bay area "keeps some away," since they can get three buckets, or 15 gallons, along the rest of the coast in Zones 1 and 2.
     Both the catches and the price have been good so far this season. Fishermen have been receiving in the range of $12.50 to $12.75 a gallon, which is up about a dollar over last year.
     As for the scallop biomass, Wright says, "It's good fishing -- at least as good as last year if not better." He adds that there is also "a lot of smaller stuff. The seed looks good." Fisherman Tom Pottle of Perry comments, "There are lot of small ones as well as a lot of legal ones." He notes that in some places there is "a phenomenal amount of sublegals. It bodes well for the future."
     Emery, who is chair of the Cobscook Bay Fishermen's Association, says it's taking draggers about the same amount of time as last year to get their two buckets of shucked scallops. Some draggers are getting a tote of legal-size scallops each tow and their 10 gallons in five or six tows, or within an hour.
     "You can't tell how long it will last, though," Emery notes. Last year the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) closed the scallop fishery in Cobscook Bay on February 8, after monitoring had determined that 84% of the harvestable biomass had been removed. However, Pottle says that catches were still good when the fishery was closed, as he was able to get 10 gallons in about three hours. The DMR has indicated that targeted closures will be implemented this year when 40% of the total biomass has been harvested. Earlier this year the agency noted, when it recommended that the length of the season would remain the same as last year, at 50 days in Zone 3 and 70 days in Zones 1 and 2, that the decision on the number of days was counter to the advice of its science staff.
      As for whether the season may be closed early this year, Emery says, "It's according to how they hold up. With not that many boats, it might last a little longer." Wright agrees that it's too early to tell. "There's not a large influx of boats, so it should hang on for awhile. They're spread out well, so hopefully it will last." The boats also are spread out by having the Dennys and Whiting bays limited access area open during December one day a week, on three Wednesdays for draggers and Saturdays for divers.
     Along with an abundance of scallops, Pottle reports that there are "a lot of starfish," off Eastport and around Treat's Island and Rodger's Island. "That's not good. They're a big predator on the scallop. It isn't just the fisherman that takes them." He says the state should act to address the problem by encouraging fishermen to drag them up and take them ashore. "It will hurt the resource and the communities," he says. "Those starfish are one of the bigger problems, more so than anything else right now."