Great scallops (Pecten maximus) are common along the coasts of the North-eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Iberian peninsula in the south to Norway in the north. They are found on sandy bottoms from just below the intertidal zone and down to depths of more than 100 m (Espeland et al. 2021).

In Norwegian waters they are most common at depths of 5–30 m in the counties of Sør-Trøndelag (Hitra and Frøya), Nord-Trøndelag and Nordland, captured by diving from brand-registered special vessels, although the species is caught all around the country coastline(Ammaturo et al. 2023). The current profile focuses on the unassessed resource of great scallops in the Barents Sea, where a new system for fishing with pumps has been implemented (Norway banned scallop harvesting in the Barents Sea 2023)