Bay scallops are again being shipped to the mainland after a slowdown in the market two weeks ago. On Nov. 30, several local handlers of wholesale seafood reported having difficulty finding markets on the mainland, with some shellfishermen told to stay out of the waters until demand increased.

As of last week, lines to the mainland had been reopened.

With the New England groundfishery now a bona fide federal disaster, fisheries managers are preparing to make drastic cuts to future allotments for cod and yellowtail flounder before the end of the year.

On Dec. 20 the New England Fishery Management Council will meet in Wakefield and is expected to cut up to 80 per cent of fishing allotments for cod and yellowtail flounder for the coming year. If they are approved, the cuts will take effect May 1, 2013.

Fans of local bay scallops are in luck; commercial fishermen, not so much.

With the sale of Viking, a 40-foot fishing boat that has plied the waters off the Vineyard for three generations, the Island’s once-vibrant fleet of small wooden draggers is now at the brink of extinction.

Craig Coutinho of Vineyard Haven confirmed this week that he will sell Viking along with his fishing permits.

Despite stormy weather, the bay scallop season is under way and doing well, local officials and fishmongers report. But while fish markets are moving product, the weather hasn’t helped get either fishermen or consumers to the store.

“We’ve got plenty,” said TJ Giegler at Edgartown Seafood, on Cooke and Main streets. The retail price on the Island before press time was under $18 a pound.

The big producing towns this year are Edgartown and Chilmark. Tisbury and Oak Bluffs are slow. Aquinnah has yet to open, usually waiting until later in the month to do so.

Bay scallopers in Chilmark are being asked to concentrate on Nashaquitsa Pond until early next month in order to make the most efficient use of a healthy crop of scallops this year.

The Chilmark selectmen voted Tuesday to close Menemsha Pond to scalloping from Nov. 21 through Dec. 3, and increase the daily limit in Quitsa to three struck bushels. The selectmen also agreed to open the area outside of Chocker’s Creek from the eastern buoy defining the closed area to the town line beginning Nov. 21.