Here you see Fishing Vessel Tarrfish in today’s early morning light, stoically bearing ice and snow from yesterday’s significant storm.
In the summer, Tarrfish harvests lobsters. In the winter, she not only “drags” for Atlantic sea scallops with a bottom-skimming dredge, she also is a scallop diving platform for her owner/captain, David Tarr. He dives from her in a wet suit and air tank, hand-harvesting the more expensive “divers’ scallops.”
As of yesterday, the scalloping season “has gone well” with both price and catch being “decent,” according to David. Some well-fished areas are beginning to get shut down by the State to protect against over-harvesting, as usual, and the recent stormy weather has slowed harvesting down, he said. The State dragging season will end this month, but the diving season will continue through most of April.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on March 5, 2023. Weather data at 7:30 a.m.: clear; snow accumulation 12.5”; temperature 25°F [WC = 19°]; wind gusts from the west 7 MPH.)