I’m as concerned as anyone else about our seabeds and marine life, as well as sustainable fishing. But a lot of folks here are jumping to conclusions.Scallops generally live in large clusters deep on the sandy ocean floor, far from coral reefs (which are generally in shallow waters) and many of the life forms you’re familiar with such as sponge, urchins, and most types of fish. Most things that get caught in dredger nets besides scallops are starfish and rocks, which fishermen are often required by law to toss back into the ocean along with underdeveloped and undersized scallops to promote sustainable fishing. There are also limits to how many scallops each vessel can take in yearly, called quotas, and selling small or undersized scallops can result in fines since it diminishes their numbers.

It’s relatively rare for anything other than scallops, starfish, rocks, and the occasional clam or crab to get caught in the nets. And, as I stated, the fishermen are required to return them to the ocean. This is a very heavily regulated industry. Do also keep in mind that a single scallop can produce over 200,000,000 eggs in its lifetime, and many are hermaphroditic and can switch between male and female. As such, their reproduction rate is quite high, and eggs are far too small to get caught in the dredger nets.