Designing and Testing Dynamic Co-management to Protect Scallop Seed and Maximize Yield

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance developed a project in which commercial scallopers will help build a fleet-led Scallop Seed Avoidance Program (SSAP). The main goal of the program is to identify localized hotspots of scallop seed and issue alerts to participating vessels within 24-48 hours, establishing small avoidance areas that form a system of temporary closures. The program will partner with a least 60 captains and vessel owners to develop the program through a series of workshops across the region.

In partnership with CFRF, CCCFA will use our mobile phone app, ScallApp, to establish an early alert system for reporting small scallop sightings and observations. Long term, this program will encourage the protection of small scallops to grow into larger scallops, where fishermen can earn more money per pound while promoting the sustainability of future stocks.

Project goals:

1. Build industry consensus and design an industry-led system for voluntary dynamic small-scale closures

2. Build the infrastructure/tools for the system and secure permits

3. Test and evaluate the system through a live pilot, real-time analytics

4. Evaluate effectiveness of pilot closures on size distribution of the catch

Project team:

this project is supported by:

NOAA Fisheries’ Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program, project 26-SCA-34.