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Article Excerpt
Harvesting in Five Major Locations
During the 1907-08 season, the fishery in southern Cape Cod produced 64,000 bushels with 3/4ths of the total from Chatham, Buzzards Bay produced 48,000 bushels, and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket combined produced 53,000 bushels of bay scallops (Belding, 1910).
Cape Cod Bay
Belding (1910) stated that between Plymouth and Provincetown in Cape Cod Bay, bay scallops could be obtained at Barnstable, Brewster, Wellfleet, and Provincetown, but no extensive fishery was carried on. The chief characteristic of this bay is a great rise and fall of tide, averaging about 10 ft (3 m). Vast areas of flats are exposed, and during winters the scallops die on them. The scallops were gathered by hand from the exposed flats, or by pushers and dip nets in the shallow water. No regular dredging took place.
Since then, only spotty commercial scalloping has taken place. It has never been a substantial fishery. In the fall of 2006 and 2007, the scallop crop was sufficiently large to support a small fishery in Wellfleet and Eastham in eastern Cape Cod Bay. The scallops were located in 5-25 ft (1.5-7.6 m) of water, the beds have some eelgrass, and the water is relatively clear. In Wellfleet, the season opened during the first week of October. Shellfishermen wanted to begin the scalloping season in October rather than in November when most locations begin, so they would have little competition in the market and be assured of high prices. From 2 to 10 boats sought scallops every suitable day. The boats are about 40 ft long with inboard engines and hulls of wood or fiberglass. The daily limit is 10 bu/man or 20 bushels for a boat with two licenses. The scallops are opened in the fishermen's homes (Mankevetch (23)).
Southern Cape Cod
On the south shore of Cape Cod, Belding (1910) described a bay scallop harvesting area about 15 miles (25 km) long and 2-3 miles (3.5-5 km) wide running from the shore from Hyannis Harbor to Monomoy Island south of Chatham. The conditions were favorable for scallops: the rise and fall of tide (about 2 ft; 60 cm) was small, water circulation was good, and the sand bottom and water depth were suitable. Most of the fishery was conducted on the open coast, but some is in the bays, such as Stage Harbor, Chatham; Lewis Bay, Hyannis; and Osterville Bay, Barnstable. Off Harwich, the grounds in places extend a distance of 2-3 miles from shore. The intervening bottom is sandy with patches of eelgrass. Some scallops were present. Water depths in the offshore grounds ranged from about 10 to 30 ft (3-9 m) with considerable areas about 15 ft (4.5 m) deep. In Chatham, about 2,000 acres of eelgrass flats sheltered by Monomoy Island furnished excellent grounds for bay scallops (Fig. 70). Little information about the fishery in southern Cape Cod was available for this paper, except for some landings data from individual towns. Chatham continued to be the leading producer.
Buzzards Bay
The grounds where bay scallops were harvested in Buzzards Bay included the various coves and harbors along the shores and on grounds farther from shore including those as far as the middle of the bay (Fig. 64). Its bay scallop fishery began in New Bedford in 1870 (Belding, 1910). From 1870-79, it furnished a winter living for about 15 men. From New Bedford, the fishery spread rapidly to the other bay towns. Shanties and fish houses for opening scallops and storing gear for quahoging and finfishing were constructed along the waterfronts in every town; some towns had at least 20 shanties (Anonymous, 1893b). Official health permits were not required in the early years to open scallops in the shanties or at fishermen's houses. Openers used knives with wooden handles, and the "eyes" were put into various types of bowls and second-hand cans that had been washed with clean fresh water. The scallop meats were taken the same night or early the next morning to fish markets (wholesalers) for shipment to markets (Sayles (12)). Shipments to New York City were troublesome on warm days if ice was unavailable. In February 1885, for example, a scallop shipment to New York spoiled enroute (Anonymous, 1885a).
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Ryder (1934) described the following bay scalloping scene in Marion on Buzzards Bay, in about 1887: "The men are out dragging, hoping to bring $50,000 into the village during the next few weeks. The boats come in full, night after night, sometimes 80 bushels to a boat as the catch was not limited. The great heaps of the brown shellfish are piled almost filling the small craft. The men in rubber hip boots on the wharf shovel the day's haul into great baskets to hurry into the little shanties where the boys of the village wait to cut deftly from the dark mass, with a quick turn of the knife, the white "eye." After the boats were unloaded, the task remained of cleaning the boats so all may be ready for a start at daybreak next morning. With bucket and broom they clean the deck and sides of the cockpit, corralling every starfish, the deadly enemy of the scallop, peer at the mast and boom, scan the nets of the dredges, for most of these scallop fishermen of the villages are deep sea sailors all with a sense of making everything 'ship shape.'"
Buzzards Bay scallops were scarce for about 7 years between 1900 and 1909. Fishermen attributed the scarcity to predation by large numbers of starfish which they had witnessed (Anonymous, 1909).
The demand for bay scallops grew steadily, more men sought them, and the fishery expanded. Sailing catboats were the most common boat used for harvesting them. In 1915, there may have been only one train/day going westward alongside the Buzzards Bay south shore to New York City, because a 1915 newspaper (Anonymous, 1915e) reported that some boats were on the scallop grounds around midnight, fished by moonlight and returned soon after daybreak with their limits of 10 bu/man, striving to get their scallops opened in time for the morning train. About 100 boats with nearly 200 men were out harvesting scallops.
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Nantucket
Scalloping began on Nantucket in 1883 (Belding, 1910). The bay scalloping grounds are in 1) Nantucket Harbor, about 6 miles (9.6 km) long and from 0.5 to 1.7 miles (0.8-2.75 km) wide; 2) Madaket Bay, 2 miles (3.25 km) across; and 3) the shoals that lie just off the north side of Tuckernuck Island (Fig. 75). Scallops sometimes are found in Nantucket Sound just off the north shore of Nantucket Harbor (Renem (11)). Among these areas, Nantucket Harbor produces, by far, the most scallops (Fig. 79, 80). The water depths of the Nantucket scalloping areas range from 2 to 8 ft (0.6-2.4 m). The larvae that have stocked the Tuckemuck shoals may come from adult scallops that were in Madaket Bay (Conant (1)).
Bay scallops initially were harvested on shallow flats where eelgrass grew in Nantucket Harbor. Most of those taken were seed and too small for human consumption, so they were sold for bait to finfishermen who wound the rims of drained and dried scallop guts around their hooks (Coffin (24)). In 1878, men with about 9 teams of horses and wagons were going out on the harbor flats raking scallops. Any scallops big enough to eat were taken in the wagons or in rowboats to fishing shanties to be opened. The larger scallops were present in the deeper waters and were harvested from dories. Two men were in each and both rowed, and they towed two scallop dredges. The dredge bags were made entirely of twine mesh, which required much mending (Andrews, 1990).
Nantucket bay scalloping began on a larger scale using catboats under sail in the late fall of 1879 (Fig. 14). Scallops were opened in shanties and shipped to New York City commission dealers, and eventually about 20 scallop opening houses stood around the edge of Nantucket Harbor until the 1940's. Farmers took the shells, crushed them, and spread them on their fields (Renem (11); Sayles (12)). Several of the buildings used as scallop shanties remain but are now small shops selling tourist items (Fig. 81). The shipping containers were butter tubs made of dovetailed quarter-inch pine boards, and were tight and clean. When harvest restrictions were first imposed in 1901, local authorities allowed fishermen to harvest some scallops after the season closed on March 31st until May 15th, to be sold for $0.25/bu cash to trawler fishermen to use as bait (Andrews, 1990).
In recent decades, the Nantucket bay scalloping fleet has varied in size, following the trend in scallop abundances. In the early 1980's, from 120 to 150 dredging boats began each season; in 2004, the fleet size was about 25 boats, besides 4 or 5 scuba divers (Fig. 82), in Nantucket Harbor, and 5 boats in Madaket Bay (Fig. 83) (Anonymous, 2006). At least half of the boats have a crew of two, the second often being a fisherman's wife or a teenager. To make the fishery more fair for the regular scallop fishermen, Nantucket has reduced the numbers of part-time bay scallopers by ruling that fishermen who want to harvest scallops must purchase their license in March, or 6 months ahead of the season opening, and by raising the license fee to $250 (Coffin (24)).
Nantucket openers of bay scallops currently are paid at the rate of 20% of the price that buyers pay fishermen for the meats. This may be as much as $2.40/lb ($21.60/gal) if the fishermen receive $12/lb for the meats. The scallop opening houses (currently 3 are active) pack the meats in plastic bags, refrigerate them, ship them the next day by refrigerated truck on the ferry to Hyannis, Mass. From there, they go to distant markets, mostly to New York City and fewer to Greater Boston, Mass., and Providence, R.I. Buyers there sell directly to fish markets and restaurants with wholesaler's licenses (Sayles (12)).
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Martha's Vineyard
Bay scalloping began on Martha's Vineyard in 1875 (Belding, 1910). The principal scalloping areas on island are (from west to east) Menemsha Pond, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide; Lagoon Pond, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) wide; Sengecontacket Pond, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) long and 0.3 miles (0.5 km) wide; Katama Bay, 2 miles (3.25 km) long and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide; Edgartown Harbor, up to 3 miles (5 km) long; and Cape Poge Pond, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long and 1.1 miles (1.6 km) wide (Fig. 84). The scalloping areas are controlled by 5 towns, each with their own designated waters; as noted, some water bodies are shared between two towns, e.g. Menemsha Pond between Aquinnah and Chilmark, Lagoon Pond between Tisbury and Oak Bluffs, and Sengecontacket Pond between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown.
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During the 1990's and 2000's, the quantities of scallops have declined and fewer jobs for scallop fishermen and openers have been available on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The permanent residents have not felt much of an economic pinch, because alternate jobs have become available, especially in the building and tourist trades, for people who might have been engaged in scalloping. Yet scalloping, commercial and recreational, continues on both islands, and nearly all the available scallops are harvested each year.
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From 1980 to 2005, Edgartown (Fig. 85, 86) landed 73% of the island's bay scallops, an average of 13,060 bu/yr as compared with 3,840 bu/yr for the remaining island towns. In 2005, the landings (in bushels) in various towns were: Edgartown, 6,014; Oak Bluffs, 1,674; Vineyard Haven, 2,926; Chilmark, 640, and Aquinnah, 438, for a total of 11,692 (source, various annual town reports).
Recreational Harvesting
Recreational or family harvesting of bay scallops has been a tradition in Massachusetts every fall. It is an enjoyable pastime, with the prize being several meals of delicious bay scallops. All state residents in Massachusetts can obtain a license to harvest bay scallops legally in any bay in the state for their own use during an open season; they cannot sell them. In 1889, the state residents could take as many as 3 bushels of scallops/ day for family use (Anonymous, 1889), but this quantity has since been reduced to one bu/week. For family use, the scallops have been obtained by people wading in the shallows of bays. They use pushers, look-boxes, and scoop nets (Beal (25)).
Wearing waders or wetsuits, the fishermen wade in waters as deep as their chests. Their gear is a look-box, a scoop net, and a wire basket placed in a rubber tube that is towed with a string around their waist. They wade through shallow eelgrass meadows peering down at the bottom and finding scallops among the eelgrass blades and also in clear openings several feet wide. A sunny day is best for spotting them, but some scallops are felt beneath the fishermen's feet. They often remain out for as long as 3 hours trying to obtain the limit. The scallops are opened at home and divided into meal-sized portions, some to be eaten immediately but most are placed in plastic bags and chilled or frozen for later use (Beal (25)). Recreational scallop landings total about 1% of Martha's Vineyard's commercial landings (Town annual reports).
In recent years, recreational scalloping can begin on October 1st, a month ahead of the commercial season, and is allowed until the end of the commercial season, March 1st (Fig. 87, 88), but, in effect, the fishery usually lasts only through October because afterward the water becomes too cold for wading (Beal (25)). Harvesters are required to purchase a license. In the 2000's, the license fee in Edgartown costs $50 for a town resident, and $220 for a nonresident (Searle (26); Bagnall (27)). The license is free for everyone at least 60 years old (Bagnall (27)). In recent years, about 100 recreational fishermen in Nantucket are harvesting on an October weekend: 90% use pushers; no dredging is allowed (Sayles (12)).
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Rhode Island
Rhode Island bay scallop landings were first recorded in 1880: 30,000 bushels were tallied (Fig. 89), but the fishery had begun before that. Between 1880 and 1959, the landings over time ranged widely among years, from 300 bushels (1905) to 71,000 bushels (1945) (about 21,000 bu/yr, avg.) (Lyles, 1969). After 1959, the landings have been almost nonexistent, except for 1978, 75,000 bushels; 1979, 23,000 bushels; 1983, 7,400 bushels; and 1984, 4,400 bushels (NMFS landings statistics). The fishery ended in 1985, when a brown tide killed the scallops and also blue mussels. The scallops have since been too scarce to support harvests.
In November, 1877, an anonymous newspaper reporter visited the small village of Scalloptown (on the southwestern shore of Greenwich Bay) (Fig. 90), and wrote the following notes about the bay scallop fishery:
"The scallops were harvested with catboats, about 20 ft (6 m) long. Each towed 4-6 dredges which cost $5 each. The scallopers wore oilskins and used oilskin bibs (Fig. 91). When not in use, the catboats were tied to stakes at least 100 ft (30 m) away from piers and docks. The fishermen got to them in their rowboats, which they tied to the stakes for the day when they got aboard their catboats."
"The scallop packing house had a wooden counter along its entire length on one side. The "cutters," most of whom were girls and some were men, began opening the scallops as soon as they were landed (Fig. 92). They discussed the quantity of scallops brought in and they calculated the number of quarts they might open. They were paid $0.15/gal. The scallop meats were washed and drained, and then boxed or barreled and sent to market. The markets paid the packing houses $0.65/gal for the meats."
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In the late 1800's and first two or three decades of the 1900's, the most important bay scallop-producing areas in Rhode Island were Greenwich and Cowesett Bays in the northwestern part of Narragansett Bay; and some scallops were caught in Mt. Hope Bay in its northeastern part. In 1879, about 90 sailing boats, most of which were catboats but also 2-3 sloops and a few sharpies, comprised the scalloping fleet. The large boats towed 6-8 dredges at a time; the smaller ones, 3-5. The fish houses furnished some of the boats, dredges, and other gear to the fishermen (Anonymous, 1877, 1916d; Ingersoll, 1887).
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About 100 people, 25-30 of whom were women and girls, opened the scallops. Opening was rarely done on the boats, since it was believed that the discarded scallop "guts" fouled the beds. Some of the shells were sold to Rhode Island oyster growers who used them as cultch for setting oyster larvae. The bulk of the scallops were sold in New York City, the remainder went to Providence and Newport, and towns in Connecticut. Much of the scallop catch in 1878 had to be discarded, due to a lack of markets (Ingersoll, 1887).
In 1914, Rhode Island issued 24 bay scallop licenses, and, in 1915, 65 such licenses that cost $15 each and were good for 4 months, September through December (Anonymous, 1915d). In 1920, 100 scallop licenses were issued. That year, the state reduced the daily limit of scallops/license from 25 to 15 bushels (Anonymous, 1920). But by then, the scallops had become scarce in Greenwich, Cowesett, and Mt. Hope Bays. Most scallops afterward were harvested in the southern areas of the state, particularly in Pt. Judith Pond, which exchanges its waters with those in Block Island Sound through an opening at its south end.
By the 1920's and 1930's, a typical bay scallop boat was a converted catboat, about 23 ft (7 m) long, usually driven by a small gasoline engine and propeller. It towed 6-8 dredges, each limited to a width of 30 in (75 cm) by state law. By the 1940's, the boats had second-hand automobile engines (Manchester (28)). By the 1950's, scallop fishermen were using wooden rowboats, 14-16 ft (4.25-4.9 m) long, with outboard motors. This made it easy for nearly every fisherman and tradesman who owned or could borrow a rowboat to go scalloping; one or two men were in each boat. In addition, small numbers of men "dip-netted" for scallops from rowboats and a few used scuba gear to get them. In the best years, about 600 boats comprised the Rhode Island Bay scalloping fleet (MacKenzie, 1997; Dykstra (29); Ganz (30)). During the lean years of the 1970's and 1980's, the main scalloping area was Pt. Judith Pond (Ganz (30)).
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From the 1950's onward, some fishermen set up benches on various shores to open bay scallops, some others opened them on their boats after they docked, while most opened them at their homes or in fish markets. The openers put the scallop meats into most any type of large can, including those that once held salted hams, but eventually everyone used stainless steel cans. The state ruled that the opening had to be done in shops that were sanitary and were approved and licensed. Some fishermen took their whole scallops to fish markets to have them opened by others. Buyers...
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