Environment

Five facts about scallops

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Map.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Map.

• The scallop can be found in bays from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico and even in Nova Scotia. Locally, bay scallops are found mostly in the Peconics, Great South Bay, Moriches Bay and Shinnecock Bay. 

(Credit: Stony Brook University)
(Credit: Stony Brook University)

• Bay scallops were nearly driven to extinction due to “brown tide” algal blooms that affected bay waters from 1985 to 1987 and again in 1995. Because bay scallops live for just 18 to 22 months and reproduce only once, they are particularly susceptible to population fluctuations.