![]() ![]() In 1928, the state led the nation in bay scallop production with a harvest of 1.4 million pounds of meats. “There was a good deal of friendly banter, and fishermen would help each other top up their limit towards the end of the fishing day.” “There was usually a pre-Christmas season that many fishermen found important to pay holiday bills.” The yearly scallop harvest was always a small boat operation with fishermen working in close proximity to each other, he adds. “They are an incredible local seafood product as there are very few areas with naturally occurring bay scallop populations,” says Mark Hooper, owner of Hooper Family Seafood, a small seafood company in Smyrna. ![]() A reopening of scallop fishing in some areas in 2009 could mean that the scallop population is on an upswing, but it is too soon to know for sure. Researchers and policy makers are focused on finding out why the scallops are suffering and developing ways to sustain populations for the future. However, North Carolina’s bay scallops have experienced years of low numbers. Recreational and commercial harvest is part of the state’s culture, with the winter scallop harvest historically providing fishermen income during a part of the year when the availability of other species dwindles. Bay scallops have been enjoyed in North Carolina since the time when our state’s only inhabitants were Native Americans. ![]()
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