Scallopers push for "fair shake" with buyers
Fishermen consider temporary closure of fishery on Fridays to boost wholesale price
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Market factors that include a strike of Alaskan king crab fishermen, a weak U.S. economy, poor harvests the last two seasons and an overabundance of scallops prompted island buyers to lower Nantucket's boat price to $9 a pound on Nov. 9.

That new price, set by Sayle's Seafood and Nantucket Seafoods last Friday, angered around 40 Nantucket scallopers enough for them to gather Sunday afternoon at the Faregrounds Restaurant to figure out how to boost the price closer to the $16 to $18 a pound that Martha's Vineyard fishmongers were paying their scallopers last week.

Coordinated by commercial lobsterman and scalloper Dann Pronk, the informal, hastily organized fishermen's confab generated the idea of not fishing on Fridays for several weeks in order to squeeze supply lines and, perhaps, increase the price.

"I'm sick and tired of these buyers killing us," said Pronk, adding that Charlie Sayle Jr. said he is having a tough time selling his scallops off island. "He was trying to tell me that he can't find a home for them. If you tried to tell me that in February, I might buy it."

To bump up the price, the scallopers requested an emergency Shellfish & Harbor Advisory Board (SHAB) meeting at which they may ask for SHAB's recommendation to the Board of Selectmen that a temporary Friday closure be instituted.

"One of the things that shocked people is when it opened on the Vineyard and people had great expectations of the price. When it opened at four or five dollars more, it was tough," said scalloper Ron Shepherd.

The scallopers' brouhaha over crying foul about low boat prices prompted SHAB late yesterday afternoon to post a public notice in the Town & County Building for an emergency meeting at 3 p.m. tomorrow in the garage at 2 Fairgrounds Road. Around the same time, the Board of Selectmen posted an emergency meeting of its own for the same date, time and place.

Despite a bountiful recreational season, nobody, apparently, expected Nantucket's adult bay scallop population to be so healthy this year for commercial scallopers. Nor did anyone count on relatively good fishing on Martha's Vineyard. The previous two seasons' lackluster harvests ratcheted expectations down to cautious levels, and buyers around the country could not adjust quickly enough to what is playing out to be a predicted bumper crop of 10,000-plus bushels on Nantucket.

Laura Ramsden, co-president of Foley Fish Co. of New Bedford, Mass., said that many elements play a role in setting the price in the ever-volatile bay scallop market. Ramsden said that all rolled into one, the country's credit crisis, flagging real estate market, the cost of oil, Alaskan king crab hitting the market at around the same time bay scallops did (because of a week-long fishermen's strike) and the unexpected great supply of bay scallops has Foley's 500 or so customers timid about buying scallops.

"In the past, particularly the last two seasons, the season was very spotty, they couldn't meet up with demand, so what happens is we get a little gun shy promoting it with our customers," said Ramsden, who added that Foley sends out regular updates to its customers informing them on all aspects of the availability of the fish they are buying. "It's tricky. If you're not going to be able to fill it [their orders] and if you're not going to get it off the island every day, that's going to be an issue."

While an undetermined number of scallopers circumvent buyers like Foley by sending their product directly to fish stores and restaurants around the country, a majority of Nantucket's scallopers are locked in to selling their catch to local seafood stores, whose prices are largely dictated by constantly evolving mainland machinations.

"You've got a competing specialty product; you've got questionable economic times and then you've got recent shortages that have people gun shy, but I think it will come back around because bottom line: you've got the best product," Ramsden said.

On Nantucket, the boat price typically opens at what the market will bear based on the aforementioned variables. But on Martha's Vineyard, at least one buyer, Louis Larsen, owner of the Net Result in Vineyard Haven, Mass., bases his price more on keeping his scallopers happy and their scallops flowing into his store. To do this, Larsen will usually set a higher boat price than other Vineyard fish markets.

This season, when five of the six Vineyard towns will be fishing their respective bodies of water for bay scallops (and he does not expect a Nantucket-like harvest), Larsen's current price of $12 a pound paid to the fishermen is most likely the highest on the island. Currently, he is selling his scallops for $15 a pound.

"I don't think it's that good, but the big town, Gay Head [Aquinnah], is probably going to have a good year. They haven't actually opened yet."

Aquinnah's season opens Dec. 1 and scallopers in that up island Vineyard town traditionally wait before dropping their dredges to see what the prices are down island, Larsen said.

Edgartown scalloper Donny Benefit, a member of that town's Shellfish Committee, does not expect a great season either.

"We're not going to have a very big season in Edgartown because they destroyed it by taking the nubs," said Benefit who can take three, 10-gallon baskets per day. "Vineyard Haven has quite a bit, Oak Bluffs has quite a bit. Gay Head, they open after, they wait for the price.

"We started off at $17 last week. It was $17 for the first three days and then it went to $15 and then a couple days later it went to $13."

Vineyard Haven scalloper David Searle would argue with Benefit that his town's fleet will not fare so well this year. Fishing Vineyard Haven's portion of Lagoon Pond for three bushels a day, Searle said next year looks better because of a good charge of seed.

"We're losing it now - it's dying out. We don't have a very good crop this year," said Searle. "I say probably a total of 15 boats for Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. I'd say probably a matter of weeks. The pond is infested with seed. Next year, it's going to be great."

Ramsden said Nantucket boat prices are likely to rise as the holidays approach and possibly negate the need for a four-day fishing week to boost prices. Ted Jennison, coowner with Dan Lemaitre of Nantucket Seafoods, said he worries that taking Fridays off, combined with days missed for bad weather, a frozen harbor and days too cold to fish could hurt the market more. But, he conceded, pinching off the supply might also help in some ways.

"Anything the fishermen can do to help their cause, it's only going to help the price," said Jennison. "[But], if they lose it here, where are they going to make it if they get frozen out in January?

"It definitely may raise the price. Fridays is not a bad idea. Obviously there's more on the market than the market can bear."

Glidden's Island Seafoods owner David Glidden agreed with Jennison that bad weather could complicate this priceincrease attempt.

"I don't think it's going to work," he said. "When you have really bad days that will make it a three-day week."

Currently, there are three prices available to scallopers from three different buyers; $9, $11 and $12, according to one scalloper who wishes to remain anonymous.

But low price in general does not help scallopers who, though they average eight pounds of scallops per bushel, must pay around $50 a day for fuel, deal with maintenance costs and pay their openers 20 percent of their catch. With island retailers getting $18 a pound for bay scallops, Pronk said he wants the scallopers to get what he thinks they deserve.

"Them paying us at nine bucks and then selling it for $18, they're doubling up on us," said Pronk. "I just bought a new motor for my boat. I just bought a new donkey motor - I'm in the hole this year

- we just want a fair shake." I