With the opening of the scallop season in Cobscook Bay on December 2, fishermen are seeing the highest prices ever for their catches, which have been good, and more draggers in the bay than during the past few years. Those fishing farther up in the bay also have been finding many green crabs, an invasive species that eats clams, scallops and sea urchins.
      Fisherman Earl Small of Eastport says the price has been "real good," starting at $20 a pound and increasing to $21 and even up to $24 after two days. For larger meat sizes, that's a dollar a scallop. "I've never seen it that high," says Small, who has heard that offshore draggers have caught their quota so that areas outside of Maine state waters are not open. For individual fishing quota vessels that fish under federal permits, Scallop Access Area I, Area II and the New York Bight have been closed since July 13, along with the Northern Gulf of Maine, which closed in April, and they won't reopen until April 1. In December the New England Fishery Management Council voted to enact a framework for the 2025 scallop season that projects a nearly 28% drop in landings next year, as surveys showed the biomass in federal waters off the northeast coast decreased from 2023 to 2024.
      According to the Maine Marine Patrol, there were 95 boats in the Cobscook Bay area on opening day, and one warning was issued for possession over the 10-gallon limit. The number is up significantly from the 50 draggers in the bay on the first day last year. However, that number increased to over 100 by the end of December, as boats from ports to the westward moved in, with catch rates dropping in the open rotational area in Zone 2. More boats from areas like Machiasport, Jonesport and Gouldsboro are fishing in Cobscook Bay at the start of this year because only Rotation C is open in Zone 2 for draggers, and there are new conservation closures for Upper Machias Bay and Moosabec Reach and Wohoa Bay.
      According to Small, there was "a lot of tide running" on the opening day, so it took draggers longer to get their 10-gallon daily catch limit. The next two days were better, and boats were getting in by 10 or 11 a.m. It was taking Small about 10 tows to reach the limit.
      Another fisherman, Butch Harris of Perry, says that where he has been fishing it has been taking him about an hour and a half to get 10 gallons, which is about the usual time for the start of the season. He's heard, though, that the catches have not been as good in some other places in the bay. However, scallop surveys, including one taken in November, indicate that the biomass in the bay is greater than last year.
      Dennysville fisherman Paul Cox says it's been taking him about three hours to reach the catch limit while fishing off the Eastport breakwater. "The scallops are no better than when we left them last year," he says. Cox reports that the scallops are of "decent" size, with few small, sublegal ones. Harris also reports that he's been getting scallops with larger meat sizes this year.
      Harris notes that it's hard to tell at this point how long the season will last in Cobscook Bay. For the 2023-2024 season it closed on January 28 after only 23 fishing days. During the previous three years, fisherman had over 30 days to drag for scallops in the bay. The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) implements closures for conservation reasons after a percentage of the biomass is harvested.
      Small says the draggers are all spread out this year, in part because the limited access area covering Whiting and Dennys bays is open two days a week instead of one during December. Cox reports that 19 draggers are on moorings off the Edmunds boat landing. Along with those boats that stay up in the bay, a few other draggers may also fish in the limited access area.
      "There are a lot of scallops and green crabs up there," Small points out, but few sea urchins. Small had been urchin dragging up there earlier this fall. "There are tons of green crabs," he says, noting that in four hours he caught 700 pounds of them. "They're doing a job on the urchins and scallops in the back river." Small has been keeping them and chipping them up as feed for chickens. "We're trying to find a market for them, but there aren't any." He heard that down state there's an effort to turn them into pellets for livestock feed. Research has also been done to see if the green crabs, which threaten the soft-shell clam and other shellfish industries in the state, can be used for fertilizer, pet food, bait or human consumption.
      While there are few smaller scallops and urchins in Whiting and Dennys bays, there are a great many larger scallops. "They need to be caught up," and the good number of boats fishing there will help with that, Small says. He understands the DMR agreed with opening the limited access area two days a week to assist with that effort. Cox notes that the additional days also help with spreading the boats out throughout the Cobscook Bay area.