Fresh Seafood

By daybreak
Published: April 13, 2008
Updated: August 7, 2008
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Sea scallops are among the most important seafood products landed along the USA East coast. Scallops are delicious and extremely popular among seafood lovers worldwide. A trip aboard an American scallop boat provided valuable information about this important American seafood item and the people that risk their lives to fish for scallops.

The first thing one might notice when visiting a commercial fishing port is the sense of community. Most of the fishermen know and respect each other. As boats pass one another, crew members exchange waves and shout questions to each other over the noise of their diesel engines. As crews work to unload a catch or load for the next trip, people stop by and ask how things are going. It is obvious from conversations that most of the commercial fishermen are quick to help one another whenever a problem arises.

On this trip we were fishing about a general category scallop boat. These vessels are allowed 400 lbs of shucked scallop meat per trip or per day. The Captain started the boat and a did a final safety check around 8 pm. Once the engines were warmed up we left Ocean City Maryland and headed out to sea towards the Elephant Trunk Access Area (ETAA) which had opened a few days prior for 2008.

The boat was equipped with a vessel monitoring system (VMS) which communicates with the National Marine Fisheries Service thru a satellite uplink. The VMS system provides a communication path the fisheries managers which allows fisherman to declare a trip, target species and destination. Within minutes the captain receives an approval and the trip can begin. The device records the position of the boat from its berth in the harbor out to sea and back to port as well as providing NMFS with data on exactly where the boat fishes.

Once clear of the inlet the crew lowered the outriggers and set the stabilizers, known as "birds". These are large steel planers that run underwater and provide stabilization of the boat while underway. The devices dramatically reduce the rolling of the boat from ocean swells. Our trip was coming on the backside of a strong weather system that had contained winds of 20-33 knots and gusts to 50 knots. Near shore the winds were light but a swell remained.

We had not traveled far when the received the first reminder of the dangers of commercial fishing. Inbound from the night before was a scallop boat which had developed a serious leak around the prop shaft. The boat had multiple pumps, some of which had failed. The remaining pump was barely keeping up with the leak. Luckily the captain had friends nearby that were ready to lend a hand if needed.

As we reached deeper water things began to settle down, the crew had caught up on their conversation and all the preparations had been completed. The deckhands slept a little while the captain remained on watch thru out the night. Around 2 am we reached the Elephant Trunk Access Area where seas were still big; 7-9 feet, steep and close together. The weather was cold and windy.

Once on the productive scallop grounds, the captain stopped the boat and prepared the dredge to fish. The scallop dredge was 11' wide and probably weighed over 2000 lbs. Setting the dredge in these conditions is a dangerous procedure that demands an alert and skilled crew. Once the dredge was deployed the boat continued underway, towing the dredge along the seafloor at around 4-5 knots. After a short tow, the dredge had a made a good catch of scallops and was winched up and onto the deck. The deckhands worked to empty the scallops which created a slippery pile on deck. The pile of scallops made the task of resetting the dredge even more of a challenge. Once the dredge was re-set and the next tow was underway, the deckhands shoveled the scallops into baskets and brought them into the shucking room.

In the shucking room the scallops are dumped into bins and shucked or "cut". The adductor muscle of the scallop is saved while the shells and scraps go into a chute which exits overboard. The process of dumping, resetting gear and processing scallops continues until the boat has up to 400 lbs of scallop meat. Once shucked, the scallops are rinsed, bagged and chilled.

As dawn broke, the scallop boats were again reminded of the dangers of the profession. The radio brought news that a larger steel boat collided with a smaller fiberglass boat off Cape May New Jersey. The smaller boat had sustained structural damage and was vulnerable in the rough weather.

After catching a limit of scallops, the crew worked to complete the task of cutting, packing and storing the scallops. Birds followed the boat, grabbing up any scraps that went overboard. The trip in allows captains to communicate by radio, talking about fishing, weather conditions and the commercial fishing industry. Once in port the scallops are rushed to the buyers and the boat is cleaned and made ready to fish again.

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