fresh water, discarding undersized shells, etc. This has been proven on a federal level as well. Shell size is much easier to enforce.Potential methods to enhance enforcement include:Shucking must be done amidships to make the process more visible- although this is not really a method to prevent smaller scallops from being shucked, as often, they are just shucked first and the shells pitched overboard.Mandating that scallops must be culled prior to shucking. Mandatory shell out buckets- one issue is that shells may just be thrown over the side.Closing areas with a high number of small scallops until they grow past minimum sizeAdministration:Define how scallops should be measured1.“Longest diameter”- oAllows more undersized scallops to meet the definition and be considered legaloResults in a smaller overall scallop size but a larger number of scallop meats per drag.2.Conservative measurement- across shell, not including hingeoLets smaller scallops gooLess scallops caught per drag initiallyB. Maximum Size (creation of a “slot” size)1.For all scallopers2.For divers onlyProblems:Larger scallops have more market valueSlot size range makes process of shucking more time consumingIncreases temptation for theft (hide the large meats)Loss of competitiveness in the “dinner plate” scallop marketBenefits:Shell size is less labor intensive and more precise than meat countsCreates an “average” scallop size in the market (reliability)Allows larger scallops to work as a brood stock to maintain populationPrevents scallop divers from taking the scallops that fishermen rely on for repopulation in an areaDivers cannot “clean” an area of scallops (decreases their efficiency)Enforcement: Easier to enforce than minimum size because larger meats do not “shrink”Difficult to catch offenders because there are fewer large scallops, and those that are caught could be shucked first and conceal...
