2025 Season landed scallop catch
Update 2025 Season
10 October the East Flinders and Banks Strait (Eddystone Point north to Gull Island) opened for commercial harvest with an allowable catch of 1,000 tonnes.
19 July the Cental East scallop area (Eddystone Point south to Probation Point) opened for commercial harvest with an allowable catch of 1,000 tonnes.The open area map and survey results can be found below.
2025 season parameters
Following the completion of scallop surveys and a recommendation by the Scallop Fishery Core Group (ScFCG), the commercial scallop fishery has been approved to open.
- North West area (Point Sorell west to Bluff Hill Point) will open from midnight 14 June to 31 December 2025.
- Lower East area (Probation Point south to Cape Pillar) will open from midnight 25 June to 31 December 2025.
A total allowable catch (TAC) of 3,003 tonnes or 294 kg/ unit has been established for the 2025 quota year.
Within the TAC, the following area-specific catch limits apply:
- A maximum of 1,000 tonnes can be taken from the North West open area.
- A maximum of 1,000 tonnes can be taken from the Lower East open area.
An additional 1,000 tonnes has been set aside within the TAC should the above open areas fish better than the survey indicated or another area opens for commercial harvest.
To fish in the 2025 commercial scallop season, licence holders must apply to activate a fishing licence (scallop) by completing the 'Application for Authorisation to Participate in Scallop Fishery During an Open Season' form. Participating vessels must also have an operating vessel monitoring system (VMS).
Open areas in 2025
Central East
State scallop waters south of Eddystone Point to Probation Point (western side of Great Oyster Bay) opened to commercial harvest on 19 July 2025, excluding the scallop spawning biomass closed area, waters less than 20m and scallop dredge prohibited areas.
From 19 July 2025 to 4 September 2025, a scallop spawning biomass closed area was in place between Long Point and Butlers Point. On 5 September 2025, the scallop spawning biomass closed area was moved to between Eddystone Point and Grants Point (see map below).
The total amount of scallops that can be taken from the Central East area is 1,000 tonnes.
This area has opened with minimum size limit for commercial scallops of 90mm.
The maps below depicts the lower Central East open area, including scallop spawning biomass closed area in yellow and scallop dredge prohibited areas in red.
Central East Coast open area.
Lower East
State scallop waters south of Probation Point (western side of Great Ouster Bay) to Cape Pillar are open for the 2025 scallop season, excluding waters less than 20m and scallop dredge prohibited areas.
The total amount of scallops that can be taken from this area is 1,000 tonnes.
This area has opened with minimum size limit for commercial scallops of 90mm.
The maps below depict the lower east open area, including scallop dredge prohibited areas in red.
Lower East Scallop Open Area
North-west
State scallop waters west of Point Sorell and North of Bluff Hill Point are open for the 2025 scallop season, excluding waters less than 20m, scallop dredge prohibited areas, and the designated spawning biomass closure.
The total amount of scallops that can be taken from this area is 1,000 tonnes.
This area has opened with minimum size limit for commercial scallops of 85mm.
The maps below depict the North West opened area, including the spawning biomass closure area and Boags Marine Park.
2025 Scallop Open Area
North-west Scallop Spawning Biomass Closure
2025 scallop survey results
From targeted survey results Area 1 in the North West and Area 5 in the Lower East meet the opening criteria.
The biomass in Area 1 has decreased by around 80% from the 2024 survey and this is likely the last season this bed can support commercial fishing until the bed can recover. This area has been open to commercial fishing for the previous three years and has had high spawning potential over that time due to the large biomass and high scallop density.
Table 1: Targeted scallop survey results.
| Survey Area | Scallop Area | Ind/m2 | Density (kg/1000m2) | | Average Scallop size (mm) | Discard % | Adj. Biomass (t) |
| | | | Average | Median | | | |
| NW Total | Area 1 | 0.1 | 7.8 | 0.6 | 97.03 | 5.2 | 5753.5 |
Marion Bay
| Area 5 | 0.36 | 21.7 | 17.2 | 100.8 | 9.9 | 7191.9
|
Central East
| Area 4
| 0.14
| 11.1
| 3.94
| | 11.5
| 11770.1
|
Area 1 North West targeted dredge scallop survey results. Left standardised length frequency distribution for the 37 dredge tows. Right legal-sized (≥ 85 mm) scallop density per survey tow (kg per 1000 m2).
Area 5 Lower East targeted dredge scallop survey results. Left standardised length frequency distribution for
the 31 dredge tows. Right legal-sized (≥ 90 mm) scallop density per survey tow (kg per 1000 m2).
Area 4 Central East targeted dredge sacllop survey results. Left standardised length frequency distribution for the 53 dredge tows. Right legal-sized (≥ 90 mm) scallop density per survey tow (kg per 1000 m2).
Scallop management areas
Scallop Management Areas