2023-2024 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Projects Selected

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The Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program in the Greater Atlantic Region is integral to the region’s fishery science effort. Successful applicants partner with the fishing industry to conduct research and to harvest their set-aside award, generating funds for the research. Final awards are expected this month.

NOAA Fisheries has selected 13 sea scallop projects for 2023-2024 awards through RSA programs. 

The selected projects will investigate sea scallop research priorities developed by the council. NOAA Fisheries expects the awards to generate approximately $20 million; $4 million to fund research, and $16 million to compensate industry partners who harvest the set-aside sea scallops.

In RSA programs, researchers compete for funding through a federal grant competition managed by NOAA Fisheries. No federal funds support the research. Instead, the programs award pounds of sea scallops from amounts “set-aside” annually for this purpose. There are active RSA programs for Atlantic sea scallops and monkfish.

2023-2024 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Survey Areas

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2023-2024 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Awards

* Project collaborators are listed under the project summaries.

** Projects will be 1-year grants, unless otherwise noted.

Institution: Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation 

Principal Investigators: David Bethoney, Ph.D., CFRF; Jake Wiscott, F/V Susan L; Christopher Roebuck, F/V Karen Elizabeth and F/V Yankee Pride.

Title: Reducing Small Scallop and Sand Dollar Catch Through Dredge Bag Modifications

Project summary: This project seeks to reduce the risk of small scallop discard mortality in areas of mixed scallop sizes and improve scallop catch efficiency in areas of high sand dollar abundance through modifications to the scallop dredge bag.

Institution: Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation

Principal Investigators: David Bethoney, Ph.D., CFRF; Melissa Sanderson, Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance; Mark Hager and Anthony Lucia, New England Marine Monitoring. 

Title: Establishing the Research Fleet approach in the Atlantic sea scallop fishery

Project summary: The goal of this project is to develop a fishery dependent biological data collection system for individual scallops using an image-based system.

Institution: Coonamessett Farm Foundation

Principal Investigator: Samir Patel, Ph.D.

Title: Understanding the Impacts of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery on Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Project summary: Investigators will apply 25 satellite tags to loggerhead turtles and opportunistically film turtles using an ROV in the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight to document their movement patterns and ecology relative to overlapping scallop fishing grounds.

Institution: Coonamessett Farm Foundation

Principal Investigators: Luisa M. Garcia, Farrell Davis, Natalie Jennings

Title: Seasonal Survey of Scallop Biology and Ecology on the Eastern Part of Georges Bank

Project summary: The applicant will examine seasonal bycatch rates and spatial and temporal distributions of key bycatch species in the scallop fishery on eastern Georges Bank. Additional objectives include seasonal changes in scallop abundance, distribution, reproductive stage, health status, and epibiont abundance. 

Institution: Fishery Applications Consulting Team 

Principal Investigators: Cate O’Keefe, Ph.D. and Steve Cadrin, Ph.D., FACT; Jason Kinnell and Matthew Bingham, Veritas Economics

Title: Assessment of Socioeconomic Impacts from Development of Offshore Wind

Project summary: Investigators will assess the socioeconomic impacts on the scallop fishery from the development of offshore wind energy across multiple leases and call areas by developing a simulation modeling tool to evaluate scenarios of fishing preclusion and fleet behaviors.

Institution: Virginia Institute of Marine Science 

Principal Investigator: David Rudders, Ph.D., Sally Roman

Title: A Cooperative High Precision Dredge Survey to Assess the Mid-Atlantic Sea Scallop Resource Area in 2023 and 2024 

Project summary: The applicant will perform scallop dredge surveys in the Mid-Atlantic Bight in 2023 and 2024 to generate scallop biomass estimates.  

Institution: Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Principal Investigator: David Rudders, Ph.D., Jan McDowell, Ph.D., Sally Roman

Title: Understanding Biological and Environmental Drivers of Shell Blister in the Sea Scallop, Placopecten magellanicus 

Project summary: Investigators will collect scallop shell samples with shell blister to identify the shell boring organism(s) causing shell blister in sea scallops across the resource, as well as document the severity, location, and size of shell blister observed.

Institution: Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Principal Investigator: David Rudders, Ph.D., Sally Roman

Title: Modified Twine Top as a Tool to Reduce Bycatch in the Sea Scallop Dredge Fishery

Project summary: The researchers propose to assess reduction in flatfish bycatch through the use of a square mesh escape panel in the twine top. 

Institution: Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Principal Investigator: David Rudders, Ph.D. and Sally Roman, VIMS; Sean Foorman,  Running Tide

Title: Development of a Scalable Near-Shore Nursery System for Sea Scallops

Project summary: The applicant proposes to develop a scalable and efficient scallop nursery system that will provide a mechanism to grow sea scallop seed to plantable size.

Institution: University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology 

Principal Investigator: Kevin Stokesbury, Ph.D., Adam J. Delargy, Ph.D., Amber D. Lisi

Title: Long-Term Substrate, Benthic Community, and Scallop Population Dynamics of the Northern Edge Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) on Georges Bank

Project summary: Investigators will analyze substrate and benthic epifauna community population dynamics through time and in relation to scallop density in the Closed Area II Habitat Area of Particular Concern. 

Institution: University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology 

Principal Investigator: Kevin Stokesbury, Ph.D.

Title: Broad-scale Drop Camera Survey of the Georges Bank Sea Scallop Resource

Project summary: Broadscale drop camera survey of the Georges Bank sea scallop resource.

Institution: University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology 

Principal Investigator: Kevin Stokesbury, Ph.D., Adam J. Delargy,Ph.D., Amber D. Lisi

Title: Examining, Tracking, and Biologically Sampling Scallop Aggregations in the Gulf of Maine

Project summary: The applicant will perform a drop camera scallop survey of select areas with the Gulf of Maine, supported with biological dredge sampling.  

Institution: University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology 

Principal Investigator: Kevin Stokesbury, Ph.D., Adam J. Delargy,Ph.D., Amber D. Lisi

Title: How Often Do Small Scallop Aggregations Grow into Fishable Beds and What Are the Drivers?

Project summary: Investigators will analyze distributions of small scallops that have been previously sampled by the SMAST drop camera and examine the success of recruitment aggregations leading to exploitable biomass in future years.

Additional Information

For more information about these awards and the Sea Scallop and Monkfish RSA Programs, please contact Ryan Silva.