OZELLO, Fla. — Scallop season is just around the corner, and an unprecedented number of the small mollusks are already being reported.

This has Nature Coast businesses preparing for what should be a busy season.

What You Need To Know

  • With scallop season starting July 1, those who have been out on the water say the number of scallops already being seen is unlike anything they have seen before

  • Captain Gary Bartell, owner of Ozello Keys Marina, says he's noticed a vast amount of scallops already in the waters off Ozello Key

  • The season dedicated to the popular mollusks plays a major role in the local economy

  • Scallop season in Citrus and Hernando County runs from July 1 to Sept. 24

“The size of the scallops, the amount of scallops and how close they already are. This is the first time for us that we’ve ever seen this,” said Gary Bartell, who owns Ozello Keys Marina.

While on a trip last month in the Gulf waters off Ozello Key, Bartell and his son, Brody, noticed bounties of scallops in the beds of seagrass below.

“There was a dolphin next to us that we were playing with and we noticed that they were just kicking up an abundance of scallops,” said Bartell. “Then we noticed when we looked behind the boat we saw we were kicking up scallops and we were just so shocked being over a month away from scallop season.”

Bartell credits the promising outlook to a recent initiative that is providing those smaller scallops more time to develop.

“We would keep those little scallops alive in our live wells and then we’d put them right back at the mouth of the St. Martin’s River, right in front of Ozello so they were untouched all season,” said Bartell. “One scallop, no matter the size, can produce up to a million eggs per day.”

The method allows those scallops the time to release their babies, which then develop into adults. It’s a cycle, Bartell says, that repeats every three years.

“One of the major contributors for why it’s so good is the scallop sorter being utilized more- that’s number one,” Bartell said. “Number two is with every bad comes good. We had Hurricane Helene last year that really put an end to all activities on the water, so that gave scallops more time to produce.”

With an above average season expected ahead, the scallops are sure to play a pretty important role in the local economy as well.

“From July to mid-August, a lot of people survive off of it. It’s such an economic boom for our area. So we prepare all year for just this month and a half,” Bartell said.

Scallop season in Citrus and Hernando County starts July 1 and runs through Sept. 24.

Pasco County’s season begins July 10 and runs through Aug. 18.