While bay scallop season along the Nature Coast kicked off June 15 in the Fenholloway-Suwannee River Zone, beginning July 1 Levy, Citrus and Hernando counties join the fun. The Franklin-NW Taylor County Zone also starts the first, while the Pasco Zone begins July 10.
A scallop success story, the Pasco Zone was only opened in 2018 after years of revitalization efforts. In February, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to approve a 40-day season, up from 37 in 2023, and 10 days in years prior. So, good news for those seeking opportunities outside traditional hotspots like Homosassa, Crystal River or Steinhatchee.
Though they live among the shallow grassflats along the entirety of Florida’s west coast, bay scallop populations can only support a harvest in the region from north of the Pinellas County line to approximately Port St. Joe in the Panhandle, which itself shares a similar success story as Pasco County.
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Scallops are challenging to manage with high variability in some areas that dictates how productive the seasons will be from one year to the next. Their populations undergo a natural boom-and-bust cycle, but the tasty bivalves are highly reliant upon the quality of their seagrass habitat to thrive, suffering from sub-optimal salinity, algal blooms and red tide, hurricanes and fishery pressures.
In addition, they simply don’t live long – up to 18 months – so monitoring their long-term health and predicting how a season will unfold is difficult.
When times are good, though, word travels fast. While recreational divers can’t do much to affect poor salinity or hurricanes, folks are being asked this year to carry a scallop sorting tool with them to pick through the litter for those that have attained spawning size and are prime for harvest.
According to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the scallop's prime reproduction period is in the fall after seasons have concluded. Small specimens are unlikely to have spawned. So in select locations, IFAS and Florida Sea Grant are offering free sorting tools, which are basically acrylic squares with a 2-inch hole. If the scallop fits through the hole, it should be set free.
Really, any similar homemade device will accomplish the same.
I well remember the bay scallop closures off Citrus County from 1994 to 2001 after the populations bottomed out. There was a real sense that the scalloping we’d enjoyed prior to this was an activity of the past. It's been 22 years since re-opening, but there is increasing pressure on this fragile, yet economically critical resource.
As a note, the use of the sorting tool is not a new regulation, just a friendly suggestion at this point. Still, as we say in the deer hunting world, “let ‘em go, let’ em grow.” Might not be growing trophy antlers, but this small step could help ensure a continued sustainable harvest of Florida’s bay scallop.
(For more information on Florida's bay scallop season, please visit myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/bay-scallops.)
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