Inspired by the success that the Sea Grant Program at the Massachusetts Instyitute of Technology has had with their program in New England (see http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/adoptaboat/index.html, the Garden State Seafood Association has begun a similar program in New Jersey.

The first participants in our program are a fifth grade class at a middle school in Mercer County. The working commercial fishing boat they are "adopting" is the sea scalloper f/v Kathy Ann, sailing out of Viking Village in Barnegat Light (http://www.fishingnj.org/portbl.htm).

Richard Skon, the captain of the Kathy Ann, along with the vessel owners Jim Gutowski and John Larson, will keep the class appraised of where the Kathy Ann is fishing and what she's catching. Using email messaging from the Kathy Ann as she's working at sea, the children will have a real-time look at the lives of working commercial fishermen and the many benefits of a balanced coastal ecosystem .  

The adopt-a-boat program will also be coordinated with the dock tours carried out at Viking Village.

We expect that this program will give the students an in-depth appreciation of what's involved in getting fresh seafood from the floor of the ocean to their table. It will also provide an opportunity to acquaint students with some of the most basic concepts of biological and physical oceanography and strengthen their ties to the ocean, not just as a source of entertainment and enjoyment, but as a critical part of our natural environment.

Thanks for visiting, and while you're here, spend some time browsing around the rest of the NJ Fishing website (http://www.fishingnj.org)

Interesting links:
    Video of swimming scallops (MPEG viewer required) - http://ap.nurc.uconn.edu/AquaNet/1996/monitor/scallop.HTM

    How a scallop dredge operates - http://www.fishingnj.org/diascall.htm

    Sea scallop recipe - http://www.fishingnj.org/recscal.htm

    Federal regulations for the sea scallop fishery - http://www.nero.nmfs.gov/ro/doc/the648.htm#TOC1_4