Young scallop numbers are rising

The sea scallop fishery often surpasses lobster as the most valuable fishery in the country, bringing in $368 million in 2007, according to the New England Fishery Management Council.

Scientist Dvora Hart of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center said Georges Bank has seen several years of dwindling numbers of young scallops. The last two years, those numbers have increased, and with proper management, she said fishermen could be reaping the benefits five or six years from now.

She said there had been some worry about the health of the scallop fishery on Georges Bank, but that historically there has been an increase in the number of juvenile scallops in the area about every 10 years.

A similar event happened in 2002 and 2003 in the Elephant Trunk area off southern New Jersey and Delaware, she said. There, fisheries managers closed the area to scallop fishing, reopening it in 2007.

“By the end of this year, they will have taken 60 million pounds from that one area,’’ she said, adding that that adds up to a haul of more than $360 million at $6 to $7 per pound.

A committee of the New England Fishery Management Council plans to meet in Providence next month to discuss managing the scallop fleet in the region.