Scallop harvest already exceeds that of last season
Scallopers nearing 10,000-bushel mark in second month of season
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Commercial scallopers hauled in an estimated 6,300 bushels as of Nov. 29, with an average of 300 bushels per day for the first 21 days of the season.

Peering through his tripod-mounted monocular from his second-floor office at the head of the town pier last week, Marine Superintendent Dave Fronzuto shook his head in disbelief.

"I got guys fishing in First Bend," said Fronzuto incredulously. "Right now, I have [four] boats in First Bend and we never have boats in First Bend. Usually, they just go in there and they prospect."

Before he could cross the street to his office from the town parking lot last Thursday at 8 a.m., Fronzuto watched as Chucky Stojack drove by towing his stillwet scallop boat, finished for the day, a familiar early morning scene in what is already twice as productive a season as last year's dismal harvest of 3,850 bushels. Although scallopers are getting $10 a pound from local buyers, the supply remains strong. Much of the fleet continued to fish Nantucket Harbor from the main anchorage east to Pocomo Point last week.

Fronzuto said there about 44 boats working Nantucket Harbor and six in Madaket Harbor, although two of those boats moved into Nantucket Harbor at the end of last week.

"It's going extremely well," he said. "We have some guys who are doing some other things [on land] and then going out later and getting their limits, and we still have the diehard guys who are going out at 6:30 a.m. and getting their limits."

The mild weather and low-wind days have made for excellent scalloping weather with very few incidents save for some towins of boats whose engines died. The only mishap of note happened last week when scalloper Bill Blount's dredges got caught on the bottom just west of the Miss China, causing his boat to capsize and Blount to end up in the water. Fellow scalloper Robert McKee was first on the scene, others followed and, later, Fronzuto arrived to help Blount out of the water and tow his boat in.

From what he observes, no scallopers have explored east beyond Pocomo Point into the Head of the Harbor, nor have they ventured into the Cord of the Bay, the waters outside of Coatue in Nantucket Sound where scallops are sometimes found. For the time being, the vein still paying off is in the area scallopers call the middle ground.

The commercial scallop season ends on

March 31. I

With more than three months remaining in the commercial scallop

season, Nantucket's commercial fishermen have already harvested nearly 10,000 bushels of scallops to date. Here's a look at the total

number of bushels harvested in past seasons.

Year	# Licenses	# Bushels	Ave$/lb		Dollars
1978	329	59000	$5.22	$	2,000,000.00
1979	435	96000	$5.34	$	3,400,000.00
1980	379	117000	$4.70	$	3,700,000.00
1981	331	77900	$5.20	$	2,700,000.00
1982	304	50000	$7.10	$	2,400,000.00
1983	294	48300	$6.13	$	2,000,000.00
1984	326	36600	$6.74	$	1,660,000.00
1985	300	38000	$7.80	$	2,000,000.00
1986	240	0	n/a		n/a
1987	260	23000	$5.34	$	830,000.00
1988	280	25000	$6.68	$	1,100,000.00
1989	252	48000	$5.50	$	2,000,000.00
1990	440	44000	$6.29	$	1,800,000.00
1991	330	27000	$6.00	$	1,300,000.00
1992	340	24000	$7.00	$	1,260,000.00
1993	320	13000	$8.75	$	853,000.00
1994	260	28000	$9.25	$	1,940,000.00
1995	240	13391	$9.50	$	954,108.00
1996	250	11100	$10.00	$	957,375.00
1997	270	8000	$11.50	$	577,875.00
1998	239	5800	$12.75	$	267,750.00
1999	137	14000	$13.00	$	1,400,000.00
2000	117	15000	$13.00	$	1,462,500.00
2001	197	14500	$10.50	$	1,141,800.00
2002	195	13900	$10.00	$	1,042,500.00
2003	157	15600	$10.50	$	1,228,500.00
2004	150	32500	$9.50	$	2,315,625.00
2005	179	5500	$12.50	$	515,625.00
2006	176	3,850	$14.25		$384,037.50