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levels may exceed the levesl conducive to recovery of the 

 scallop stock in the short term, and may also have more 

 far-reaching adverse effects than have thus far been 

 realized. 



The impact of a decrease in the scallop supply available 

 to U.S. harvesters on Georges Bank would primarily affect 

 scallopers in Massachusetts ports, particularly the larger 

 vessels (over 125 GRT) in New Bedford and Provincetown , 

 medium size vessels (61-125 GRT) in New Bedford and Sandwich, 

 and smaller vessels (less than 60 GRT) in New Bedford, 

 provincetown. Sandwich, and Barnstable and Dukes Counties. 



Conversion of such vessels for operations in other 

 fisheries would be a possibility, but not without substantial 

 costs. It is estimated, for example, that the cost of con- 

 verting a large scallop vessel could run as much as $100,000. 



Since most scallops harvested in Subdivision 5Ze are 

 processed at sea, a reduction in the available supply from this 

 area would have little impact on land based processors. Consu- 

 mers could be affected by a possible increase in the price of 

 scallops, although supply would probably not be affected 

 because of import possibilities. 

 Other Fisheries 



Because of 1978 total catches in certain other fisheries 

 exceeded the estimated potential annual average yield and 

 there is sufficient price incentive to maintain catches at 



