Why Was This Company Started?
In 2007, I began working at the Maine Department of Marine Resources, and quickly focused on the need to improve management of the state’s scallop fishery. Although the fishery had boomed in the past, it was experiencing a deep and prolonged bust when I came on board. With Maine’s Scallop Advisory Council, I worked with industry to help identify and implement solutions to help foster a recovery. Through four years of controversial debate, we succeeded in reducing the season from 132 to 70 days, limiting daily take, increasing fines for rule violations, and, most importantly, prohibiting scallop fishing in large conservation closures (see “About” tab for more management information). Although these management changes were significant, I don’t believe they’re enough. At a meeting in Jonesport in the fall of 2010, fishermen debated further reducing the daily limit. Draggerman Maurice Alley supported the reduction in theory, but had a concern “I wouldn’t mind reducing the daily limit if we could be assured of a fair price, but we never know what we’re going to get.” It was then that it hit me: Maine scallops needed to be differentiated. Although Maine diver scallops were already getting a good price (see “do you know what you’re serving” tab for caveats), the same could not be said of scallops caught by draggers. The price of a scallop landed hours after harvest was being set by an offshore fishery consisting mostly of large boats that spend weeks at a time offshore. Now don’t get me wrong: I eat and enjoy scallops caught from the federal fishery, and I applaud that fishery for the conservative measures they’ve adopted to ensure a sustainable future. But those scallops just can’t compare to Maine’s freshly caught product. And when you try a Maine Dayboat Scallop, I believe you, too, will taste the difference a day makes.