{"id":1490,"date":"2008-11-08T13:08:51","date_gmt":"2008-11-08T17:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=1490"},"modified":"2010-11-19T21:09:52","modified_gmt":"2010-11-20T02:09:52","slug":"gourmet-art-bay-scallops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=1490","title":{"rendered":"Gourmet Art – Bay Scallops"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Three Bay Scallops Washed Up on Indian Neck, Wellfleet<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As\u00c2\u00a0the Turtle Journal team\u00c2\u00a0combed the tidal flats of Indian Neck just south of the boat entrance to Wellfleet Harbor, we discovered a large number of bay scallops that had been deposited\u00c2\u00a0in the shallows\u00c2\u00a0by\u00c2\u00a0a previous high tide.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0They appeared around, maybe just below, legal\u00c2\u00a0harvesting size, and\u00c2\u00a0had\u00c2\u00a0somehow been dislocated from their deeper locations in Wellfleet Bay between Indian Neck to the east\u00c2\u00a0and Great Island to the west.\u00c2\u00a0 Seagulls were having a feast, prying open the shells and stripping out the meat.\u00c2\u00a0 [ASIDE:\u00c2\u00a0 You may have gotten the impression from this and previous posts that seagulls on the Outer Cape enjoy a fairly easy life and a luxuriant palate.\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t seem to be bothered by the moral dilemma of shellfish sizing rules.]\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Bay Scallop Opens and Snaps Shut Again<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bay scallops (Pecten irradians<\/em>) should not be confused with much larger deep sea scallops (Placopecten megallancius<\/em>) that are harvested off the coast in areas such as Georges Bank.\u00c2\u00a0 Bay scallops are sweeter, more tender and much more flavorful.\u00c2\u00a0 They are also rare and very difficult to obtain, having been harvested to near exhaustion in\u00c2\u00a0pressured coastal habitats.\u00c2\u00a0 Today, sea scallops account for the overwhelming bulk of the commercial scallop fisheries and are likely to be the menu item sitting on your plate.\u00c2\u00a0 If and when you can\u00c2\u00a0order bay scallops, do so.\u00c2\u00a0 You will savor the difference.<\/p>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Bay Scallop (Pecten irradians)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The shell-clapping behavior illustrated in the video is used by bay scallops to drive jets of water for propulsion to evade predators and to move toward sources of food.\u00c2\u00a0 Movement is created by contraction of the yummy adductor muscle.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The process\u00c2\u00a0doesn’t quite work as well when being held in mid-air by a human hand, but it gives us an opportunity to examine this artistically exquisite culinary delight.<\/p>\n

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Two Hinged Shells Held Together by Edible Adductor Muscle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scallops consist of two hinged shells (hence: bivalve) connected together by an adductor muscle.\u00c2\u00a0 This thick white fleshy muscle, the adductor, is the “scallop” that we actually eat; all the rest of the animal is scraped out and tossed back out to sea to re-enter the food chain.\u00c2\u00a0 (The entire scallop is actually edible, but U.S. preference is to eat only the adductor muscle.)<\/p>\n

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Colorful Multihued Shells & Beautiful Blue Eyes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bay scallop habitat is the subtidal zone in five to twenty-five feet of water.\u00c2\u00a0 Scallops spend the first week or so of life as free-floating plankton.\u00c2\u00a0 After seven to ten days\u00c2\u00a0a juvenile scallop\u00c2\u00a0develops byssal threads projecting from its foot and attaches itself to a substrate.\u00c2\u00a0 The preferred substrate is eelgrass (Zoestera marina<\/em>) where juvenile scallops are protected from voracious predators.\u00c2\u00a0 They can detach themselves at any time, and after a year or so, the mature scallop breaks free of the eelgrass and settles\u00c2\u00a0on sandy and muddy bottoms of harbors and estuaries.\u00c2\u00a0 This behavior is unlike their clam relatives such as quahogs and soft-shelled clams that prefer to burrow into sandy, silty bottoms.\u00c2\u00a0 Bay scallops reach reproductive maturity around 12 months and will spawn only once in its lifetime.<\/p>\n

Coastal development adversely impacts scallop\u00c2\u00a0habitat primarily through silt runoff that smothers eelgrass beds.\u00c2\u00a0 In\u00c2\u00a0estuaries that permit dense boat moorings, such as Sippican Harbor, the constant swinging of boats\u00c2\u00a0on mooring lines mows eelgrass beds, while added silting and shading thwart growth of new plants.\u00c2\u00a0 Overfishing of bay scallops has been a big problem for sustainable populations, as has the decrease in water quality and clarity, and obviously the drastic reduction in viable eelgrass beds.<\/p>\n

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“Ol’ Blue Eyes” Himself Would Be Jealous<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scallops are unusual among shellfish in that they frequently rest with their shells open, creating a one-quater inch gap between shells.\u00c2\u00a0 Nestled along the mantel are rows of brilliantly colored blue eyes and fleshy tentacles.\u00c2\u00a0 Both eyes and tentacles funtion as sensory organs.\u00c2\u00a0 Those beautiful blue eyes would have made Frank Sinatra jealous because\u00c2\u00a0each animal\u00c2\u00a0has 30 to 40 of them.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Scallop eyes are similar to human eyes in that each one contains a lens, a blue iris, a retina\u00c2\u00a0& a cornea, and each eye is attached to an optic nerve.\u00c2\u00a0 Eyes are sensitive to movement and to shadows, enabling the scallop to detect and thereby to avoid predators.<\/p>\n

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Blue Eyes\u00c2\u00a0along Perimeter;\u00c2\u00a0Chemosensory\u00c2\u00a0Tentacles Below<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Blue scallop eyes\u00c2\u00a0are scattered along\u00c2\u00a0the outer circumference.\u00c2\u00a0 Inside the eyes the mantel is\u00c2\u00a0ringed by fleshy, chemosensory\u00c2\u00a0protuberances called tentacles that are sensitive to odors and to changes in water temperature.<\/p>\n

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Chemosensory Tentacles Above; Gills Below<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bay scallops, like other bivalves, are filter feeders and their primary prey are diatoms (phytoplankton).\u00c2\u00a0 With its two shells partially open, a scallop can pass large volumes of diatoms across its gills (orange ring below chemosensory tentacles above).\u00c2\u00a0 Rows of cilia\u00c2\u00a0sweep diatoms across the gill surface, where\u00c2\u00a0mucus traps and concentrates diatoms for the palps.\u00c2\u00a0 Palps are fleshy tissue on the gills that move\u00c2\u00a0diatoms toward the stomach where they are consumed as nutrients and transported throughout the scallop via an open circulatory system.<\/p>\n

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Edible Adductor Muscle Holds Shells Together<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The delicious adductor muscle makes humans the principal predators of bay scallops.\u00c2\u00a0 In the plankton stage, scallops are easy prey for fish and other marine animals.\u00c2\u00a0 As they grow scallops become prey for crabs and sea birds.\u00c2\u00a0 Seastars and oyster drills prey on adult scallops, as do ubiquitous seagulls when they get a chance.\u00c2\u00a0 Humans, though, create the greatest impact on scallop populations.\u00c2\u00a0 Overfishing has driven bay scallops into extirpation in many estuaries.\u00c2\u00a0 Habitat destruction and reduced water quality have exacerbated population declines.<\/p>\n

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Bay Scallop:\u00c2\u00a0 A Gourmet Work of Art<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sue Wieber Nourse led a bay scallop research and restoration project in Sippican Harbor with her Tabor Academy advanced marine science students during the early 2000s.\u00c2\u00a0 In collaboration with the Marion shellfish officer, Kevin Snow, Sue and her students spread seed scallops in protective cages\u00c2\u00a0in\u00c2\u00a0various substrates\u00c2\u00a0throughout the bottom of Sippican Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0 Besides allowing students to\u00c2\u00a0engage in hands-on science with real world impact, Sue’s project increased bay scallop productivity in Sippican for several years.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, the project was discontinued.\u00c2\u00a0 You can read about this successful research and education program in a November 2001 article, “Tabor Students Keep Close Watch on Tiny Scallops<\/a>,” in the New Bedford Standard Times.<\/p>\n

Fun Facts:\u00c2\u00a0 Life span – 20 to 26 months.\u00c2\u00a0 Maximum size in Massachusetts – 3.5 inches.\u00c2\u00a0 Reproductively mature in one year; spawns only once in a lifetime.\u00c2\u00a0 Spawning time – June 15th to August 15th.\u00c2\u00a0 Average number of eggs – 2 million.\u00c2\u00a0 Shallow water habitat: prefer 5 to 25 feet depth.\u00c2\u00a0 Minimum water coverage at low tide – 1 to 2 feet.<\/p>\n