NANTUCKET—At one time, more than 40 years ago, wild bay scallops ruled the island's winter economy and yielded record harvests.
But things have changed. While the fishery is seeing more juvenile bay scallops than ever, fewer commercial fishermen are around to catch them.
"There are a lot of fishermen aging out of the fishery and there aren't a lot of new entries coming in," said Tara Riley, who runs the Brant Point Shellfish Hatchery and manages shellfish restoration on Nantucket.
"We are looking at ways to reinvigorate the fishery," she said. "If we have the resource of the bay scallop but we don't have people fishing for it, that's an interesting situation that I never thought we would be in."
Riley spoke to Morning Edition host Patrick Flanary about the fishery's effort to attract more young people to pursue the business of scalloping.
Recreational-scalloping season runs through March.
