Scallops 101

Sea Scallops, (Placopecten Magallanicus) and Japanese Scallops (Patinopecten Yessoensis), are marine bi-valve molluscs with a hinged, fan-shaped, two part shell. Though found in every ocean, the largest wild scallop fishery is off of the North Eastern United States and Eastern Canada, with Japan and China closely following. 

The whole scallop is edible, but the most commonly eaten part in North America is called the adductor muscle also known as the meat. The adductor muscle is white in color, firm in texture and has a very mild flavour.

Catch Techniques

Scallops are cultured by using lantern nets. The first stage of culturing scallops is collecting scallop spat. There are two ways scallop spat can be collected. It can be collected from the wild, or through the production of onshore hatchery facilities. Once scallop spat is collect, it is placed into pearl nets. Pearl nets are small pyramid shaped nets, usually hung ten to a line. Scallops are not grown to large sizes in these nets due to the structure of the equipment. One the scallops have reached their desired sizes, they are placed in lantern nets. These nets consist of a number of levels in which the scallops are placed. The lantern nets are then attached to ropes that have been secured between buoys. The scallops are held within the nets throughout their growth cycle which lasts about 18 months, or until they reach a market size of 60-70mm.

Seasonality

Scallops are available year-round. Harvest times of scallops are contingent on the type of products to be

marketed that require different sized scallops (50-90mm) to be available throughout the year.

Step-by-Step Scallop Inspection

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