Resource Abundance, Fisheries Management, and Fishing Ports: The U.S. Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

Abstract

The Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery has grown tremendously over the past twenty years. The location and magnitude of harvestable biomass fluctuates dramatically due to both natural variation and the explicitly spatial management system designed to allow small individuals to grow larger and more valuable. These fluctuations in natural advantages can have profound effects on fishing ports. We use methods from economic growth literature to show that ports with lower initial scallop landings have grown the fastest. Furthermore, good access to biomass influences long-run changes in landings, although this effect exhibits considerable variability across ports. We also find evidence of returns to scope, suggesting that ports with other fishing activities could be well positioned to attract new scalloping activity when stock conditions are favorable. Further investigation of the largest ports using time-series methods also shows a high degree of variability; there are long-run relationships between scallop fishing and harvestable scallop stock in some ports, short-run relationships in some ports, and no relationship between the two in others. We interpret this as evidence that heterogeneity in the natural productivity of the ocean combined with explicitly spatial fisheries management has induced a spatial component to the port-level response to changes in biomass availability.

Modeling Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) scope for growth on the Northeast U.S. Shelf

“…Sea scallop populations have greatly benefited from rotational and long‐term closures due to the sedentary nature of adult sea scallops (Cooley et al, 2015; Hart, 2003; Hart & Rago, 2006; Lee et al, 2019). However, as scallop distributions shift due to the changing climate, these areas may need to be moved.…”

“…The primary goal of fisheries management is to provide the greatest overall benefits by maximizing yield and preventing overfishing (Hart et al, 2020; Lee et al, 2019). The implementation of effective scallop fishery management on the NES since 1994 has dramatically increased scallop total biomass, landings, and prices (Hart & Rago, 2006; Lee et al, 2019).…”

“…The primary goal of fisheries management is to provide the greatest overall benefits by maximizing yield and preventing overfishing (Hart et al, 2020; Lee et al, 2019). The implementation of effective scallop fishery management on the NES since 1994 has dramatically increased scallop total biomass, landings, and prices (Hart & Rago, 2006; Lee et al, 2019). Given the climate‐induced rapid warming in the NES sea scallop habitats over the last several decades, an adaptive fishery management plan can potentially offset to some degree the negative consequences of climate change (Gaines et al, 2018; Rheuban et al, 2018).…”