However worldwide declines in wild scallop populations have resulted in the growth of aquaculture.

This will be the largest effort to restore the once-plentiful scallop population that was decimated by algae blooms in the mid-1980's.

As a result, the scallop population has rebounded there, while remaining severely depleted elsewhere.

Spat collectors, suspended near the surface to trap larvae, are being used to jump-start the scallop population.

It would be the most ambitious attempt to restock the scallop population since the numbers plummeted in 1985.

The scallop population has periodic incidences of high mortality, the causes of which have not been identified.

Native scallop populations were hurt beginning in 1985 by algae that became known as the Brown Tide.

Cornell is involved in a project to restore the scallop population.

The brown tide, in effect, strangled the adult scallop population, causing baymen to lose millions of dollars over the last two years.

Conditions appear to have been less favorable for the scallop population that will reach maturity in time for next season, he said.