At the end of last season it was a 50/50 call as to what our divers were saying about being able to gather their quota of 50 scallops. However they all agree that for the resource to remain sustainable something drastic had to be done to both the Recreational and Commercial take.
Commonly agreed steps that should be taken to obtain this are:
Ban all Dredging both commercial and recreational (as this is just systematic Destruction of Habitat).
Remove the take for the safety diver and skipper (this is not permitted for any other species).
Increase size limit back to 100mm (as it once was, to be inline with the rest of the country).
Reduce the allowable take to 20-30 (which also puts us inline with the rest of the country).
Divers that have dived their favorite scallop spots since the closure have reported fast expanding numbers with increase of size and scallops being spotted in much shallower depths some as shallow as 2mtrs at low tide.
Our divers feel that if these measures are put in place there will be scallops for future generations to come.
If you haven't already gone out and dived your favorite scallop spot, then do so and report back.
