Maine's scallop fishery, in midst of unprecedented growth, is target of legislator's cap plan

Maine's rebounding scallop fishery is the target of a state lawmaker's plan to put a cap on daily harvesting.

Rep. Robert Alley is proposing legislation that would limit scallop harvesters to 90 pounds per day, per person. The proposal is the subject of a public hearing in Augusta on April 1.

The state's large, meaty scallops are prized in the culinary world and often fetch several dollars more per pound at market than others. The fishery is experiencing a dramatic comeback from the collapse of a decade ago. The fishery bottomed out in 2005 at about 33,000 pounds and rebuilt to more than a half-million pounds in 2014.

State regulators say the fishery's success is due to new management methods that allowed the scallops to grow.