Nantucket Bay Scallop Trademark

[Schark]

This is a serious question:

Why isn't there a Trademark put on "Nantucket Bay Scallops?"
It would protect the name and establish protection for the fishery.
You would no longer be able to go to the big box stores and buy 10lb sacks of frozen Nantucket Bay Scallops grown and harvested in Vietnam.

They do it with Vidalia Onions.
Only sweet onions grown in Vidalia County, GA can carry the "Vidalia Onion" name.
There are plenty of great sweet onions but only one true Vidalia, just like there's only one true Nantucket Bay Scallop.

[Martie]

Don't bother. You will NEVER get the local bay scallopers to agree on anything. We are complainers. It has always been that way. Different things have been proposed to improve the fishery. Nobody agrees on anything.

My personal opinion? It's fine. Leave it alone.

[Schark]

DMy personal opinion? It's fine. Leave it alone.

Establishing the Trademark would make real Nantucket nubs a premium product that would sell for a premium price. If people want the real thing, the best there is, they will be willing to pay. Right now any restaurant can sell imported, farm raised scallops and sell them as "Nantucket Bay Scallops." Customers don't know the difference and don't care. They would care if they knew that they were getting something special.

[Martie]

The problem this year is there are too many Bay Scallops around the Northeast. They are plentiful from the Carolinas up to P Town and everywhere in between. The market will be flooded come the start of the commercial season. And in this rotten economy, nobody is buying bay scallops at $30 per pound.

[Schark]

The problem this year is there are too many Bay Scallops around the Northeast. They are plentiful from the Carolinas up to P Town and everywhere in between. The market will be flooded come the start of the commercial season. And in this rotten economy, nobody is buying bay scallops at $30 per pound.

I hear you, but how many "Nantucket Bay Scallops" were there? If people go to the market and ask what the difference is between "Bay Scallops" and "Nantucket Bay Scallops," quite a few people will want the premium product that is from the last naturally sustaining fishery. Do I think that it would make the market price go up a whole bunch and that everyone would be millionaires overnight? No. It might make the market price a little better. That wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Martie]

Seriously, Mark, don't bother. The local scallopers are the most negative bunch of people out there. They complain about every aspect of the fishery. They love the sound of their own voices. It's been that way forever. Nothing will change. Sorry but that's just the way it is.