Development of a Modeling Framework to Assess the Effects of Environmental Heterogeneity in Sea Scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) Abundance, Distribution, and Growth: Application to the Maine Fishery
Principal Investigator: Yong Chen (Zoology & Marine Science, UMaine)
Partners: Northeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA
Abstract: The federal scallop fishery has undergone a large recovery since the mid-1990s and now supports the most valuable fishery in the U.S. with total ex-vessel values exceeding $570 million in 2011. Improving stock assessment and management to maximize sustainable yield is highly important to the economies of coastal Maine areas where scallops are landed. This proposal seeks GA funding with the overall goal of developing a modeling framework to understand environmental variability as it relates to scallop biology, and to incorporate these relationships into the assessment and management of the Gulf of Maine scallop population.