It’s simple, on paper: tow the dredge and catch the scallops; remove scallops from shell; place scallops on ice in the hold; bring to dock; sell. Scalloping is brutal on the hands, wrists, and forearms. It is tendonitis on steroids. Most people can’t hack it. And there’s neck pain—these guys rarely look up from their scalloping cutting. I don’t know if they know what a sea horizon even looks like. The trip I made—as a writer—the scallops were so thick on the bottom that we could only tow the dredges for a few minutes before they had to be hauled back. In 24 hours we only made four or five twenty-minute tows. The port and starboard dredges had enough scallops in them to keep the boys pinned to the cutting boxes for hours. By the start of the fourth day the Karen Elizabeth had her trip and we headed home.
Scalloping is all about efficiency. Number of tows, length of tow, number of meats per pound, numbers of meats cut per watch/ man. These guys have a good idea what they will earn on each trip. And they want to do it fast. If you can’t pull your weight as a cutter then you’ll actually cost the boat money. It matters little how good of a guy you are; if you know right from left, up from down. If you’re fast, you got a shot at landing a job. If not, see you later.
The trip I made was a thing of beauty. I’d never seen anything like it. The sea floor must’ve been carpeted in scallops. I have done my share of towing things around the ocean floor—nets and oyster drags. But this had a different flavor. A scallop dredge has a certain no bullshit look to it. These are not pillowcases. Everything on a scallop boat is heavy, from the dredges to the shackles.
Despite the work, these boats are very hard to land a site on. The money is too good and the season is too short. These boats are at sea about 78 days a year, with trip lengths ranging from 4 to 15 days. The rest of the year they’re either tied to the dock or they convert over and target something else like codfish or squid.
All the photographs are from the same trip. The Karen Elizabeth was fishing in an area known as the Nantucket Lightship. When I look at these pictures all I can hear is scalloper noise: the shells make a noise when they fall from the dredges and they make a noise when the cutters shuck them and fling the empty shells against the stainless backs of the cutting boxes. And the dredges make noise and the wire makes noise and the winches make noise and the stereo speakers on deck make noise, often a very loud one, of rock and roll.
Great article especially for the land lubber John! Pictures are fantastic!! I remember trying it once (4 days) and I really enjoyed the rhythm of cutting scallops, but like you said, everything is so darn heavy!
OK good, Amanda, I got it. I didn’t recognize the e-mail address.
It is slow going. I think putting pictures up makes sense. I got a bunch of them. Sea herring trips, squid, lobster, groundfish, tuna. Plus I’ll make new trips. If you know of anyone who might make an interesting profile let me know.
Mr. Lee-
Gotta say, I am loving getting updates on new postings on your site. Good stuff sir. Keep it up!
-Kekalos
Like the article and like type photos very much. Where do they land those things? PJ?
Thanks for reading. Almost all the sea scallops end up in New Bedford. Many get landed there. But even if they don’t they end up there. Scallops keep making New Bedford the top money port in the US.
The scallops in the photos were landed in RI, up in Quonset.
PS. We went to film the pair fishing trawlers off Black Point this afternoon, and saw that they’d already skidaddled up to New Bedford or south after the herring.
Loving the website, John.
And there is nothing I love to eat more than scallops.
Best,
Wing
reality jon , great ;
BTW ……back of PP you should try ><<
I saw the birds working there the other day. Tough getting in. Need to bush whack.
Great shots john hopefully you can get out with us next week!!
hey jason things are good music wise here I dont like cinnabons though !!!!!
Great stuff John. And to think the Government almost shut down the scallop industry due to “over fishing”.