Farm Raised Scallops

Most people in the United States have never heard of farm raised scallops, but they are incredibly common in Japan. Mutsu Bay and Hokkaido are some of the biggest producers of farmed scallops in the world. The Japanese started farming scallops in the 1970’s. Maine scallop farmers have been traveling to Japan to bring best farming practices back to the States. It is still a budding industry in Maine.

Sustainability

Farming scallops is an extremely sustainable practice. Most methods of growing or raising protein sources have adverse environmental effects, while scallop farming is a net positive. Scallops are incredible creatures that filter feed for sustenance, meaning no feed is ever put into the water. A single scallop can filter up to 95 gallons of water a day. This inherently cleans the water that scallops reside in. Bivalve aquaculture can also help with carbon sequestration and can remove excess nitrogen from the water through filtration, that is then used to build their shells. Essentially, bivalve aquaculture can actually benefit the natural ecosystem, creating a healthier home for surrounding sea life.

Where it All Begins

It all starts with spat. Spat is another term for scallop seed, or settled larvae. Scallops typically have a large spawn in July and August and larvae start to settle toward the end of September, which is when spat collection starts to take place. Spat collection bags are large mesh bags stuffed with a substrate. These bags are attached to a vertical line with a surface buoy and an anchor to keep it in place. Once bags are deployed, the scallops naturally settle in them as they pass through while riding current.

Scallops in Suspended Culture

Once spat has been procured, it is then moved to the farm site. The next step is to sort and grade the scallops into pearl nets or lantern nets. Scallops may stay in nets for the rest of their growth period being periodically cleaned and thinned out as they grow, or once they are large enough, they can be “ear-hung”. Ear hanging is the process of drilling a small hole in the scallop’s “ear” or hinge, and stringing the scallop onto a dropper line. This method allows the scallop to swim more freely and can lead to faster growth.

Harvesting

A farmed scallop can be harvested at different phases of its life. The smallest size typically harvested is the princess or petite sized (18 months), the next being medium sized (2 years) and finally, full maturity (3 years). Another difference between wild caught scallops and farm raised scallop is that unlike a wild caught scallop, a farm raised scallop can be eaten whole. A scallop’s anatomy consists of the adductor muscle (the soft white muscle that most people are used to consuming), the mantle and the gonad. All of these parts can be consumed on a farm raised scallop because of close bio-toxin monitoring at the farm site. These additional parts cannot be consumed in a wild caught scallop because there is no way to consistently test the water quality since harvesting sites are always changing.