Scallop fishing in the Northern Gulf of Maine closes early for 2026

The US government has closed a specific scallop fishing area in the Northern Gulf of Maine for the rest of the 2026 season. This means that smaller, general category fishing boats cannot harvest scallops in that area until the next fishing year.

Fishing quotas are set to prevent overfishing, but they often rely on estimates of how much can be caught. When a quota is hit early, it shows that either the estimates were too high, or fishing activity was more intense than expected. This early closure means less income for some smaller fishing operations for the rest of the year.