We conduct research and monitoring surveys to better understand the physical, biological, economic, and social components of marine ecosystems found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean from the Canadian Scotian Shelf to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Scientific parties, the officers and crew of NOAA ships, and charter vessels log more than 300 days-at-sea monitoring and sampling from ships on the U.S. Northeast shelf.
Survey scientists captured some fascinating sights and scenes from the 2025 Atlantic Sea Scallop Dredge Survey. Their year in photos gives a peek at our survey, its operations, interesting and often overlooked marine invertebrates, and more.
Annual dredge survey completed 84 percent of the planned stations aboard the commercial fishing vessel Selje. This year included improvements to the survey and saw a very large catch of young scallops at one of the fixed stations.
Biological Science Technician Zach Fyke participated in all three legs of the 2024 Atlantic Sea Scallop Survey. He got to see and experience some pretty incredible things, including seeing his first right whale, puffins, a huge halibut, and more.
