Restoring Scallops

1933 was a bad year for the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Slime mold wiped out the eelgrass beds in the shallow coastal waters. A big hurricane made things even worse. Without the seagrass habitat, fish and crab populations were decimated, and bay scallops vanished. And neither seagrass nor scallops were seen again for almost seven decades.

Today, though, both are recovering. Healthy eelgrass covers 10,000 acres. And there are enough scallops that people are talking about opening a recreational harvesting season.

The comeback began when a scientist at the College of William & Mary discovered a small patch of eelgrass, in 1997. He then began a program to restore the grass along the Eastern Shore, which is separated from the mainland by Chesapeake Bay. As the beds expanded, researchers began looking at restoring bay scallops.

The scallops are about three inches across. They use small tentacles on the edges of their shells to sense their surroundings, and gills to filter food from the water.

Scientists harvested scallops from North Carolina and elsewhere. They cultivated new generations in the lab, then slowly released them into the wild. And the population has taken off. A 2025 survey found by far the highest number of scallops since the project began. And researchers estimated the population could double over the following year and a half. That could make it possible for people to harvest a few of the tasty morsels in the coming years.