The Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) is the focus of one of the most valuable fisheries on the east coast of the United States. Despite the species being thoroughly studied and effectively managed, scallop recruitment is still poorly understood and strong recruitment events are difficult to predict. Scallop recruitment depends on the dispersal of the earliest pelagic scallop stages to an area and the survival of the early pelagic and benthic scallop life stages. Barcoding of sedimentary environmental DNA (eDNA) could provide a method for identifying the presence of scallop spat before they can be identified using dredge and optical surveys. Use of metabarcoding could also identify potential scallop predators, increasing the value of using this method. The goal of this project was to test the feasibility of using sedimentary eDNA to identify scallop spat as a first step to developing these needed survey methodologies. Sediment samples from areas with scallops present and without scallops present based on optical surveys will be analyzed using sedimentary eDNA and microscopy.