APPENDIX III APPENDIX IIT 
reservation after Canada, because of the unfairness that 
would result if only U.S. fishermen had to comply. 
The Canadian Government has adopted less stringent 
measures and is expected to gradually attain the recommended 
regulations. NMFS officials stated that the regulations 
would have had only minimal effect on the U.S. fishermen 
because they generally harvest larger scallops. As of 
July 1976, however, U.S. officials, with domestic industry 
support, were planning to withdraw the reservation by the 
United States and begin implementing the sea scallop regula- 
tions recommended by ICNAF. 
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 
Resource availability 
No maximum sustainable yield (MSY) figure is available 
for sea scallops. Due to its nature, though, the MSY con- 
cept may not be applicable to the sea scallop resource. 
With existing information, however, NMFS biologists have 
concluded that overall sea scallop abundance is considerably 
lower than in the 1960s and that the yield would be increased 
by postponing the age of first capture by several more years. 
For example, NMFS surveys in 1975 found a important set of 
young scallops south of Long Island and east of Sandy Hook, 
New Jersey in the Middle Atlantic Bight, and on the Northern 
Edge and Peak on Georges Bank. NMFS biologists believe 
these scallops should not be harvested for at least two more 
years to obtain higher meat yield. An NMFS biologist esti- 
mated that the average annual yield for the sea scallop on 
Georges Bank, the most productive sea scallop area, may be 
about 20 million pounds, provided stocks are allowed to 
rebuild and fishing effort is controlled at reasonable 
levels. 
The status of the Alaska sea scallop is not clear but 
it appears that catches may not increase much above present 
landings of under 2 million pounds per year. Bay scallop 
landings have generally ranged between 1 and 2 million 
pounds annually; large increases beyond this level are not 
expected. Calico scallops are considered an underutilized 
resource. Aithough no MSY has been established, an NMFS 
official estimates that it is probably many times the annual 
landings rate which has fluctuated widely, up to 1.9 million 
pounds in 1966. 
Harvesting capability 
If the abundance of sea scallops increased dramatically, 
the scallop fleet could be expanded rapidly, because many 
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