That includes what many expect to be a lucrative Labor Day weekend. The commission limits scallop harvesting to two gallons of unshucked or one pint of shucked scallops per person per day, or 10 gallons of unshucked or one half gallon of schucked per boat. Besides a longer season, area businesses may also benefit from the first-ever St. Joseph Bay Scallop Day. It's slated for Aug. 30. Having a festival toward the end of scallop season spreads it out a little more for us.
Organizers say they want the festival to educate as much as it promotes.
St. Joe Bay scallops are special, Arnold said - mostly because they're still here. Scallops once thrived from West Palm Beach on Florida's Atlantic Coast to Pensacola. Places like Homasassa Bay used to be thick with them. Now they're virtually gone. Besides St. Joe Bay, only scallops near Steinhatchee are considered part of thriving populations.