Scallop scarcity: Some P.E.I. restaurants removing the dish from menus as prices soar

Pan-seared scallops are a top-selling menu item at New Glasgow Lobster Suppers, second only to lobster. 

But this year, the Prince Edward Island seafood restaurant has made the difficult decision to take sea scallops off the menu amid rising prices and an inaccessible supply. 

“The price … for our pan-seared scallops here went up basically about 60 per cent this year,” said Mike Forrest, the restaurant’s co-owner and manager. 

“We just didn’t feel comfortable selling them at the price point we would have to sell them at to make margins.” 

Forrest said he’s been told by suppliers that the larger sized scallops that work best for the style of preparation used at New Glasgow Lobster Suppers are non-existent in the wild right now. 

“They tell us that basically every five, 10 years there’s a cycle with scallops and sometimes the larger ones become harder for them to catch,” he said. 

While pan-seared scallops might be hard to come by, smaller sizes of the shellfish can still be found in dishes like chowder, said Forrest. 

‘Brace for an impact’ 

The difficulty in sourcing scallops is affecting menus at other Island restaurants, too. 

“Scallops aren’t created equal. There’s different sizes and grades of them. And getting those larger scallops — dinner-sized, appetizer-sized scallops — are non-existent this year,” said Steve Murphy, who co-owns Slaymaker and Nichols Gastro House in Charlottetown and Blue Mussel Cafe in Rustico. 

“We can’t even offer it as an option this year.”

At the Shellfish Shack in Stanley Bridge, Tristyn Coughlin is set to open for the season on Saturday — with less than half the supply of scallops he started with last year. 

“We started with 40 pounds. We normally start with 100 pounds,” Coughlin said, noting that he wanted to keep scallops on the menu to support the local fishers he buys from. 

“It’s important to have, and that’s why we haven’t closed it off.… If someone wants to pay the price, I want it available.” 

Coughlin said fuel prices are another major concern — particularly for fishers who drag heavy loads of scallops behind their boat for long hours. 

But across the board, he said, seafood prices have jumped this year. 

“With MSX coming into the oyster industry, the price of oysters is going to be up. Haddock quota was cut 56 per cent so that’s going to be up. Cod — I couldn’t even find cod. Even when we open, I’ll have no cod,” Coughlin said. 

“Just brace for an impact in the seafood prices and try your best to support the seafood industry, your fish marts, your fishermen. Just try to do your part with them.”

As for when Islanders can expect to get their fill of pan-seared scallops again, both Forrest and Murphy hope to be able to offer them on menus next year. 

“We just need to let them grow a little bit longer so they can get a little bit bigger, and then we’ll have the pan-seared scallops back on the menu,” Forrest said. 

Murphy also hopes the shortage and high prices won’t be a long-term issue.

“I’d rather have a six-month problem getting scallops than a six-year or 60-year problem,” he said. “Hopefully it’s a temporary blip and we can get back into selling more scallops next year.”