Scallop fishing closes early in the Gulf of Maine for 2025

The US government has closed a scallop fishing area in the Northern Gulf of Maine for the rest of the 2025 fishing year. This means that smaller fishing boats cannot catch scallops in this specific area to prevent overfishing.

This closure is a direct response to harvest data, showing that the allowed catch limit for scallops has been reached early. It forces a specific group of fishers to stop operations in a key area, impacting their immediate income. This kind of early closure is a recurring tool regulators use to manage fish stocks, directly affecting the economics of small-scale fisheries.