PASCO COUNTY, Fla — Curt Romanowski has lived in Pasco County all his life. The owner of Florida Backwater Charters says he always looks forward to taking people out on his boat to hunt for scallops.
“People that haven’t done it before, it takes a little while. Until they get used to it. Until they see one. Once they start to see what they are looking for because what you see are the eyes,” said Romanowski.
State officials stopped Pasco’s scallop season for years so they could repopulate. It came back in 2018 with a trial 10-day season.
Now, it’s expanded all the way to 40 days from July 10 to August 18.
“I wasn’t a great big proponent of making it that long for Pasco. I was liking it with a short condensed so we can kind of keep things here. Not over fish ‘em,” said Romannowski.
Mark Dillingham leads scalloping charters with Inshore Adventures and says Pasco County is starting to see a bigger push when it comes to scalloping season.
“Friends that we have and talk to in other counties, Hillsborough and Pinellas, they even come up and do Pasco because the Homosassa and stuff is a lot longer drive to go up into Hernando,” said Dillingham.
Pasco businesses like the historic Hacienda Hotel are trying to cash in on the additional days.
“We are really close to the boat ramp where we have a lot of local charters, so that helps us to create business opportunities and partnerships with companies like Windsong that allows a comprehensive, culturally unique experience for the guest,” said Hacienda manager Rafe Banks.
And the hotel also uses some of those scallops in the restaurant.
“We do with a nice mushroom risotto,” said Banks.
Another change in Pasco’s scalloping schedule…the season also no longer includes July 4th to help with crowded waterways.
The boat captains said Pasco needs more boat docks to help with the added traffic.
Some expansion is already in the works.
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