How to Grow Giant Scallops

The ̶0;giant̶1; scallop, or sea scallop (a larger version of the bay scallop), is found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Newfoundland to North Carolina, as well as in the Pacific Northwest. If you are currently a shellfish farmer in one of these areas, giant scallops could be a valuable addition to your product base. You can use the same long-line system that you use for oysters, and either grow your ̶0;crops̶1; concurrently, or stagger their growth time for income purposes.

Things You'll Need

  • Scallop fishing license
  • Scallop reporting forms
  • State and federal waters permits
  • Registered fishing boat
  • Spat (in spat bags)
  • Long-line system
  • Pearl nets
  • Lantern nets
  • Buoys and/or fishing raft
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Instructions

  1. Preparation

    • 1

      Check with your state fishery to confirm whether you need a scallop fishing license and/or scalloping waters permits. Find your fishery̵7;s regional office at the NOAA website (see Resources).

    • 2

      Contact your state resource management coordinator to obtain any necessary scallop reporting forms.

    • 3

      Talk to your shellfish distributors about the desired market size for your scallops and your estimated harvest dates, so your supply will align with their demand.

    Spat Collection

    • 4

      Procure ̶0;spat̶1; (scallop in the postlarvae stage) from the wild or from a hatchery. For wild spat procurement, select a spat collection area and time by talking to fellow shellfish farmers and searching your state fishery's website about permissible scallop spawning areas and their corresponding ̶0;open seasons̶1; (designated marine farming periods).

    • 5

      Attach a series of mesh spat bags filled with monofilament gill netting (called "cultch") to your long-line system (polyethylene ropes suspended from an anchored series of buoys or anchored fishing raft) in your spat collection area. The recommended mesh size for giant scallop spat bags is 1.5 mm. Hang your spat bags at depths from 50 to 100 m. Once spawned, scallop larvae will free-float for 35 to 45 days, then settle on the cultch and undergo metamorphosis into spat. Collect your spat bags one to four months after deployment, when spat are between 1 and 4 cm.

    • 6

      Obtain spat from a hatchery by placing an order for 1 to 2 million spat, or 1,000 to 2,000 thousand-count spat bags, to account for mortality during growth. Arrange for spat delivery from the hatchery's boat to yours.

    Intermediate Growth

    • 7

      Transfer your wild or hatchery-produced spat into round or square ̶0;pearl nets." Distribute the scallops so that there are about 100 per net for optimal growth conditions. Suspend the pearl nets on your long-line system at depths between 2 and 10 meters.

    • 8

      Grow the scallops for about one year, until their shells are at least 2.5 cm in diameter. Once a week, inspect and redistribute your scallops so that they are grouped together by size. Remove any dead scallops, excess algae or predators like crabs or starfish.

    • 9

      Swap out your current nets with larger mesh-sized nets as your scallops grow. Mesh sizes for the intermediate growth stage of scallops range can range from 2 to 7 mm. Think of your mesh like a pasta strainer: Aim for a mesh size big enough for scallops to grow but not slip through the holes.

    Final Growth

    • 10

      Transfer the scallops into accordionlike, tiered ̶0;lantern nets,̶1; and resuspend them from the long-line.

    • 11

      Continue sizing, sorting and redistributing your scallops weekly as they continue growing.

    • 12

      Continue growing the scallops for 18 months to 2 years, until they reach market size (about 5 to 9 cm, as determined by your distributors).