AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ATLANTIC SEA SCALLOP MARKETS

Abstract

The Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) is harvested in the waters off the coast of the northeastern United States and Canada by vessels from both countries. The Atlantic sea scallop fishery has been an important fishery in the Northeastern U.S. in recent decades. This is particularly true for New England where, during the quarter-century ending in 1976, over 10 percent of the value of all fish and shellfish landed was attributable to the harvest of sea scallops. United States landings during the last quarter-century, imports and apparent U.S. consumption are shown in Figure 1. While each of these measures was subject to annual fluctuations, a definite pattern is evident. U.S. landings have trended downward~ since 1961 and have been gradually replaced by i!flports, which trended upwards, as the primary source of supply for U.S. consumption, although there was a substantial recovery in U.S. landings at the end of the period. Consumption exhibited less trend than the other two measures, as it increased during the first 10 years of the period, then decreased to its beginning level in the late 1960's and early 1970's, and then fmally increased sharply at the end of the period. The changes indicated in Figure 1 stem in part from a gradual replacement of U.S. fishing activity by Canadian fishing activity on Georges Bank, which was the principal source of sea scallops for the New England fleet in the 1950's and early 1960's. This, coupled with an apparent decrease in natural abundance on Georges Bank, resulted in a diversion of New England scallopers to the Middle Atlantic banks which had previously supported only a small fishery operating out of ports from New York south to North Carolina. Since 1965, Georges Bank has yielded a U.S. catch of between two and four million pounds of edible meats each year, compared with over 20 million pounds in earlier peak years. The total U.S. catch, which was over 27 million pounds in 1961 , had decreased to a little over five million pounds by 1973. An unusually large abundance on the Middle Atlantic banks pushed the U.S. catch back to nearly 20 million pounds in 1976. Meanwhile, the Canadian catch which was relatively low until the early 1960's exceeded the U.S. volume in 1966, and has been double the U.S. volume since 1969 (except for 1976). The Canadians have exported over 80 percent of their landings to the U.S. in most years since 1960. Canada was the source of nearly all U.S. scallop imports in the 1960's. In the 1970's, other important foreign sources emerged (the United Kingdom, Australia, Iceland and Mexico), but Canada has continued to supply half or more of U.S. imports in the 1970's. The U.S. Fishery Management and Conservation Act of 1976 created an exclusive U.S. fishing zone to 200 miles off the U.S. coast. Included in this zone is all of Georges Bank, although the eastern part is a disputed area since it also falls within 200