Final Report Available: Scallop Enhancement Project
Evaluating the Key Factors that Influence the Efficacy of Transplanting to Supplement Recruitment
February 20, 2026
The Coonamessett Farm Foundation has released the final report for its Evaluating the Key Factors that Influence the Efficacy of Transplanting to Supplement Recruitment project. This report was submitted to NOAA Fisheries earlier this month and was prepared under the 2022 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program. continuing more than a decade of collaborative, industry-based research. The report summarizes scallop transplanting efforts from 2020-2024 evaluating the influence of dispersal, growth, and mortality on the persistence of transplanted beds.
This research indicates that transplanting sea scallops from high-density, growth-limited areas to more favorable environments can produce meaningful biological and economic gains. Once transplanted to an area, scallops spread across while remaining at commercially viable densities, reducing concerns about excessive loss due to dispersal. Using bio-economic modeling of transplanting, we demonstrate that this technique can transform a low-value, slow-growing biomass into a higher-value product under a variety of market and mortality conditions. Overall, the findings suggest that transplanting can be an effective, though context-dependent, strategy for improving scallop production.
However, successful implementation depends on several important factors. Destination sites must provide a sufficiently different thermal environment to stimulate compensatory growth. Adequate stocking intensity and appropriate size structure are necessary to counteract dispersal and predation losses. Controlling incidental mortality is critical, as it is the strongest negative influence on economic performance; maintaining mortality below 35% significantly improves returns. Finally, managers must account for the economic context, including the opportunity cost of harvesting from the source bed, especially when market prices for higher count meats are high.
This multi-year effort would not have been possible without the support and expertise of our industry partners. The Coonamessett Farm Foundation would especially like to thank Trawler Capt Carl, LLC; Empires Fisheries, LLC; Shamrock Fisheries, LLC; and F/V Small Stuff for their consultation on logistics and for providing vessel platforms to conduct field operations. We also extend our sincere thanks to Magnar and Victoria Kvilhaug for their valuable contributions to the analysis.