Newspapers / Carteret County News-Times (Morehead … / Oct. 11, 1955, edition 3 / Page 22
Part of Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Where Scallops Live, How They Grow By DR. WILLIAM E. FARY (Editor's Nate: TV writer of LkU article la a member of the ataff W the Intitule of Fiaheriea Research, Morrhead City). From the historical standpoint the scallop is almost as well known as the oyster. The structural beauty of the i scallop shell has long been recognized, and at least since * medieval times, it has been copied for ornamental pur poses. Indeed, in our own day, the scallop shell is used as the trademark for one of the larger^ y oil companies. The early Ameri I can Indians also recognized the superior food qualities of the scal lop as evidenced by their kitchen > middens. (A midden is a refuse heap, found in places of primitive I habitation). Throughout the world there are ( many different kinds of scallops of varying sizes and shapes. From the coast of North Carolina alone ? there have been seven species re |j ported, but of these only one, the i so-called bay scallop, has ever been ! of commercial importance. This scallop occurs along the j Atlantic seaboard from Nova Sco tia to Texas, but its commercial I range extends from Cape Cod in ? the north, to Florida in the south. 1 Throughout its range the bay scal 1 lop is found in shallow estuaries, j the mouths of rivers, in bays and , J in sounds. In North Caroina, the j entire scallop fishery is located in , j the sounds inside the "outer , > banks." I The bay scallop is a marine bi j valve mollusk with rounded shells . ? approximately 3V? inchcs in dia ; meter. A series of ridges radiat- , ing from a long straight h}ft0? ex ' tend across the shells. At the hinge j the shells are fastened together by means of a flexible ligament j and a small cartilage; these struc tures tend to keep the shells open. ! Somewhat centrally located with in the shells is a strong columnar muscle, the adductor muscle, some I times as thick as the thumb of a '! man. It is this muscle which closes f1 the shell and it is also this muscle !' with which most are familiar, be ;j cause this is the scallop "meat," ?J the part which is placed on the jj market. I Development, Behavior The early development of the I bay scallop is essentially like that of other well known bivalve mol lusks such as the oyster and hard clam. However, in the scallop both ; sex products, eggs and sperm, are present in the same individual. In the spawning process the 1 scallop usually discharges only one | kind of sex cell at a time, thus j self-fertilization seldom occurs. In ! North Carolina most bay scallops [' spawn in the period August j through October. Fertilization of the egg occurs ? in the water surrounding the scal lops. Within a few hours the mi croscopic scallop is capable of lo- , comotion by means of fine hairs. At one or two days a swimming organ edged with fine hairs is formed and also at this stage the first shell is formed. After four or five days marked changes have occurred *nd the young scallop appears as a minia ture of the adult, yet the length (diameter from the straight hinge to the opposite side) is only about 1/2S of an inch. At this stage the little animal possesses a "foot," a muscular or gan which protrudes between the shells in the angle formed by the itraight hinge and the shells. By means of this foot the scallop crawls about the bottom attach ing itself to any object by means of fine threads secreted by a gland in the foot. Thus a "set" of young scallops (results when attachment is made to submerged vegetation, o 1 d shells, stones, logs or other .im ilar material. The young scallop can make or break this attachment as the occasion demands. Attachment to submerged ob jects is of great significance be cause it prevents the young from being swept to unfavorable en vironments by violent wave action or strong tides. The duration of the attachment habit in early life varieg greatly with individuals. Usually Attached scallops .are one-half inch in diameter or less (up to four months of age), but occasionally one can find an at tached scallop the size of a half dollar (up to 10 months of age). For the most part older scallops (five months and older )are found in shallow pits which they fashion in the bottom. Such a pit affords considerable protection against water movement. Many Blue Eyes Another unique character of the scallop is the presence of many eyes of a deep blue color. These eyes are located on short stalks and can be seen through the open shells all around the animal. These are very complex structures con taining a cornea, lens, iris, retina and optic nerve* thus the eye of the scallop is comparable to the eyes of much higher animals such as mammals. Another singular possession of (he scallop is the power of swim ming The light shell, strong ad ductor muscle, well-developed car tilage in the hinge and other com ponents are coordinated to permit more or less rapid movement through the water. In swimming the scallop appears to "bite" the water moving quite rapidly with the hinge behind. In this manner they comc to the surface and move along it for short distances. Although it is a widely-spread talc that scallops accomplish long migrations from the sea to the dif ferent sounds, or from sound to sound, there is no recorded scien tific evidence or observation to support such. On any particular shoal there is considerable move ment of scallops. On numerous occasions a swarm of perhaps a hundred scallops have been seen to move 10 or 15 feet when a person walks through them. Growth of Scallop After larval development, growth of the scallop is rapid dur ing the warm months of August, September and October. In late October the water temperature de creases and the growth rate slows, but growth does not cease. By February and March the scallop has attained a length of about one half inch to one inch. With the warm water tempera tures of the spring the growKi rate is greatly increased and by July, that is about 11 months af ter fertilization of the egg, a length of approximately 2 to 2H inches is reached. At one year of age the scallop is sexually mature. If one opens a scallop at this time, an organ shaped like a large kidney bean can be seen in the central region. The red-orange end of this organ contains the eggs and the dark brown or black end contains the sperm cells. The red-orange col oration denotes ripeness in the eggs. During the months of August through October, the thirteenth through the fifteenth month of life, the scallop does not increase very 'much in length, apparently nfost of the animal's energy is be ing devoted to reproduction. In the following period, November through February, the shell length it increased to about 3'< inches. The commercial fishery u ao in tense that few scallops survive their second winter. Even if the scallop* were not caught there la considerable evi dence that few would survive na turally through the second spring. At this time the adductor muscle becomes weakened in many indivi duals, and such animals become easy prey for enemies such as crabs. Of the few which do survive the second spring, shell length con tinues to increase, but very slowly. There is some evidence that these older scallops, about to spawn for the second year, do not wait until August, but rather discharge their sex products in May. Such a phenomenon explains the existence of a considerable number of very small scallops (1/25 to 3/25 of an inch long) in May and June. Quite frequently very old scallops are found, that is scallops which have lived as long as 30 months. Whether they live longer than this in nature is not known. Scallop Industry In the past decades scallop pro duction in North Carolina has compared favorably with that of other states of the Atlantic sea board The highest production re corded in the statistics for North Carolina was in 1928 when 174,250 gallons were harvested. Such a figure was higher than any other scallop-producing state and represented more than 40 per cent of the national bay scallop harvest for that year. Following the disappearance of eelgrass from the coastal areas of the United States in the early 1930's, scallop production ii) North Carolina and other states declined. Since 1931 North Carolina has had only one "good" scallop year and that occurred in 1951 when 46.000 gallons were harvested. The scallop fishery, once located in Bogue Sound, is now found chiefly in Core Sound. In North Carolina scallops are harvested by hand with rakes or more frequently with long handled scoop nets. Dredging is prohibited by law. The quantity of scallops caught by a fisherman in a day depends on the density of the scal lops, weather conditions and indi vidual skill. On a clear calm day a skilled man on good scallop ground can gather 45 bushels. The shucking out of the adductor muscle for market is a family affair. The fisherman takes his catch to his home where the entire family usually becomes engaged in the shucking process. Later the meats are taken to a fish dealer where the fisherman is paid by the gal ion. Most of North Carolina's scallops are shipped to the market in New York City. Scallop meat yield has been stu died (or several years by investi gators at the University of North Carolina Institute of Fisheries Re search. Investigations show that the volume of meat in a scallop doubles between the months of September and December, that is, the adductor muscle increases in size twofold from the thirteenth to the sixteenth month of life. It is in December that the commer cial fishing season opens. Meat Yields Vary Studies have also shown that there is great variation in the meat yields of scallops from different shoals. In general the nearer a shoal is to an ocean inlet, the greater the yield of meat per scal lop. About 280 scallops are re quired to yield a gallon of meats when the scallops are harvested from the "best'' grounds, such as at present are found *n the White hurst Island shoals in Core Sound near the bight of Cape Lookout; almost 500 scallops (re required Crab in Can Looks, Tastes Better Than Crab 'In Claw' I Two million pounds of crabs taken from the waters of the Pam lico River, the Pungo River, and other waters within a radius of 20 miles of Bclhaven are brought yearly to the docks of the Blue Channel Corp. plant at Belhaven. The appetite - tantalizing canned crab meat then goes to the tables of homes all over the nation. The Belhaven plant has been in operation since IMS. The main of fice of the firm, founded in 1935, la at Port Royal, S. C. There the company's other plant ia located. It cans oysters and shrimp in ad dition to crabmeat, while the Bel haven plant produces only crab meat, although it canned both oysters and herring roe for several seasons. The corporation has had plants at Crisfleld, Md? New Or leans, La., and Beaufort, 3. C. About ISO Beaufort Countians are employed during the peak of the crab season under the super vision of Joseph T. Killer, plant The spacious plant, which covers ?bout 30,000 square feet, consists of four buildings in addition to the office, occupying the former site of the Ruark Crab Co. The building cloaest to the water . was to Um dock, where the crate ' arc unloaded, washed in a wire tumbler, and (teamed. Inside the building, the crab* are cleaned, picked, and the meat graded. After the meat has been washed and placed in cam, the cans are sealed and processed under pressure. The crabmeat is packaged in the five and one-half-ounce family size as well ss the one-pouiul insti tutional sice. A popular package contains a six-ounce can of deviled crab and four crab sheila for serv ing the spicy concoction. An inno vation in the company's packaging is the three-ounce can of deviled crab, designed to compete with deviled ham for hors d'oeuvrea. In the storage building, the cans are labeled as to content and stored. After they are packed, they move out to markets In New Eng land and New York, ?? well a* In North Carolina. Taking a cue from the meat packing industry, which "uaes every part of the pig except his squeal," Blue Channel has gone the meat packers one better but using every part of the crab, including his shell, i Shells measuring tour to five inches acroaa are cooked In lye to remove all clinging particles of meat. Then a chemical baae la ap plied to neutralise the acid; and Um shell it dried thoroughly and brushed. The attractive shells are packaged with a can of deviled crab so that the houaewtfe may ?erve her devfled crab In a fashion pictured in the beat cookbooks and home making magazines. Sheila which do not meet siie requirement for marketing are relegated to the dehydrator, along with all other waste material. The meal which is the product of the dehydrating process is used in ani mal feeda. i Mr. Miller, the personable man ager of the Belhaven industry, baa been with the North Carolina plant since 1MB A native of Massa chusetts, Mr. Miller is s graduate of the state university at Arnhent, where he received his bachelor's degree in food chemistry. Mr. Miller has been aaaociattd with the corporation sine* 1M1, having been employed at severs! other plants before assuming his managerial position in Belhaven. He served with the Navy aa an en sign during World War II, and waa stationed at Pearl Harbor from 1944 until 1946. His firm, using s patented pro cess for canning Its product, is the only one on the Atlantic coast, he says, which cans crab mast North Carolina is proud to num ber it among its seafood procesaing plants. ? to yield a gallon of meat* when the scallop* are gathered from shoals halfway between Barden In let and Drum Inlet in Core Sound. The significance of the differ ences between meat yields to the fisherman i* apparent at once. A man fishin. In one area has to do twice the work (both in catching and in shucking) to obtain the same amount of money The prices received by fisher men and dealers have varied in the past few years. The price is generally governed by the prevail ing market in New York City. From 1949 to 1932 the price re ceived by the fishermen was about $4 per gallon and the average price in New York was $6. In 19S3 the market was slow and the price to fishermen varied from $2.00 to $3.00 per gallon; in New York scallops brought $3.25 to $3.50. This figure represents the lowest price level in recent years. In 1954 fishermen received about $4 per gallon and in New York the market price varied from $5.25 to $6.50. Hoax Played A discussion of the scallop in dustry would not be complete without a description of a hoax that used to be played upon res taurant owners and sea food eaters, and perhaps it still is. The pectoral fins of certain skates and rays would be cut into the approximate shape and size of scallop meats, and the same would be sold as "scallops" to the restaurants. Detection of such a deception is relatively easy. You merely stand the suspected meat upright on one of the round ends: if the muscle fibers run up and down, the meat is a scallop muscle, but if the mus cle fibers run crosswise of .your plate you are not eating scallops, but possibly the fin of a skate. Fluctuations in Abundance A study of statistics of scallop production of different states, in cluding North Carolina, shows great fluctuations through the years. Because bay scallops form a desirable and intensely cropped resource, it can be assumed that annual harvests reflect the true number of scallops present in a fishery. The reasons for these fluctua tions have not been clear. In 1951 the Institute of Fisheries Research began an intensive study of the bay scallop in North Carolina. One of the reasons offered by biologists for the lower catches of scallops along the eastern coast of the United States since 1931 was the disappearance of eelgrass from the estuaries^ With such dis appearance marine biologists sus pected that vital cover for certain animal forms, including the bay scallop, was taken away. Since 1948 an increasing area of the Core Sound bottom has been covered with vegetation during summer and fall months, the cri tical months for the young of the bay scallop. It is at this time that young scallops require cover that protects them from predators and prevents their being swept away by strong tidal currents or wave action. (Most of the vegetation that covers the scallop areas today is not eelgrass but two other plants.) The area of bottom covered by vegetation increased from 1948 through 1951 and the production of scallops rose from a very small amount to 46,000 gallons. However, in the years 1952 through 1954, the area of bottom covered by vegetation did not de crease and scallop production de creased pronouncedly Obviously, factors other than vegetation can control the number of scallops available to a fishery. Many Young In ?pring, 1952, just after the relatively high production of the 1951-52 winter season there were large numbers of young scallops on the Core Sound grounds. On the basis of plot counts through out the grounds, the 1952 harvest promised to be greater than the previous season's. In June, 1952, record air tem peratures (up to 107 degrees F.) were recorded at Morehead City. The water temperatures over moat of the scallop grounds ranged from 90 degrees to 95 degrees F. During these periods of high air temperatures, extremely low tides occurred and shoals fell bare where normally one or two feet of water could be expected. These temperatures killed almost all of th scallops. The only area in which tcallops survived in large numbers was the Whitehurst Island shoal where cooling ocean water washed through Barden Inlet and the dif ferent sloughs of the area on flood tide. Throughout the a c a 1 1 o p grounds "pockets" of scallops that had surviyed could be found. Iloet of these occurred in deep er water (4 to 8 feet) along the edge of sloughs, but some were found on vegetation-covered shoals that had not fallen bar*. It ia quite probable that the vegetation and the layer of water served as insulators against the ex tremely high water temperatures. (Such combinations of vegetation, air and water temperature, and water depth may be effective againat extreme temperature In winter alao.) An elaborate experiment waa act up in Core Sound during early summer of 1883 to attempt to dem onstrate the affect of extreme high wattr temperature* an expoeed scallop populations as compared' to those populations protected by vegtation and deeper water. Unfortunately, high air temp eratures did not occur in that per iod as forecast and the demonstra tion was not successful. The ob ject of this experiment was to de termine the practicability of large scale removal of scallops from "danger" areas to "safe" areas when weather forecasts indicated such a need. Attempts were made to induce scallops to set in "safe" areas, that is locations where they would be protected to a large extent against extremely high or low water temperatures. Clam* shells were scattered over certain selec ted spots "to catch a set." These attempts failed because in the es tuaries the collectors became sand ed over, or were removed by hu mans, thus upsetting the experi ment. Surveys made in summer, 1955, show that more scallops were pre sent in Bogue Sound than in re cent years. Hurricane Connie swept through the immediate area with an attendant heavy rainfall. The following day Bogue Sound was brown in color because of the heavy runoff of rainwater. It is entirely possible that sev eral thousand dollars worth of scal lops in Bogue Sound perished be cause of a prolonged period of fresh water over a scallop bed. Of course the wave action attending the storm may well have destroyed most of them. If such is the case, not only might the coming winter's harvest be destroyed, but also some of the young just spawned. The studies of the Institute of Fisheries Research show that en vironmental conditions can cause large fluctuations in the abun dance of scallops. It is possible that such environmental factors as covering vegetation, extremes of water temperature, excessive run off of rain water, or scouring ac tion of wind storms can account for the fluctuations in abundance of scallops through the years. In the light of present know ledge it is the opinion of the in vestigators at the Institute of Fish erics Research that nothing can be done to stabilize the bay scal lop fishery in North Carolina be cause the environmental condi tions influencing the number of scallops are extremely variable and not able to be modified or con trolled, indeed in most instances their occurrence cannot even be predicted. NFI Meetings Take Place This Month Members of the National Fish eries Institute in this region (II) uill attend a regional meeting Mon day, Oct. 24, at Virginia Beach, V?. Francis Taylor, Pensacola, presi dent of NFI, and Charlie Jackson, general manager, will attend. Fol lowing a luncheon there will be a discussion of local fisheries prob lems and NFI affairs. Other regional meetings and their dates follow: Region III, Fri day. Oct. 7, New Orleans, La.; Re gion IV, Monday, Oct. 10, Santa Barbara. Calif.; Region V. Friday, Oct. 14, Seattle, Wash.; Region VI, Tuesday, Oct. 18, Chicago; Region 1, Friday, Oct. 21, Boston, Mass. State law bans trawling in rivers, bays, harbors and sounds in South Carolina with the excep tion of certain areas of Beaufort County. i m Gillikin Brothers Build Boats at Harkers Island Gillikln Brothers Boat Yard at Harkers Inland, run by Paul and James T. Gillikin, is celebrating its second anniversary this month. In the two-year period of opera tion of the yard has built more than IB boats, including three small skiffs and one commercial fishing vessel. Following Hurricane Hazel last October, the yard made many re pairs on damaged fishing boats. One person, Walter J. Wilkins, Norfolk, has had two cabin cruis ers made at the yard. The first, a 42-footer costing $18,000, was launched in Hay 1954. A crowd of 300 persons, mostly from Harkers Island, but from other parts of the county as well, attended the gala launching, one of the largest crowds ever to witness such an event, because boat launching on Harkers Island is a rather common occurrence. The second boat, a 47-footer costing *40,000, was launched tt> August of this year. It look the yard nine months to complete this ? ? . ? ' ' ? < particular boat. Mr. Gillikin laid it takes between three and more months to complete an "ordinary boat. Largest "boat made by Gillikin Brothers thus far is a 65-footer which is being used as a head boat (or sports fishermen in South Carolina. Like Mr. Wilkina' second cabin cruiser, it was launched at the yard in August. The one commercial fishing boat built at the yard was a 26 footer. Employees, all residents of Har kers Island, are Clem Willis, Lon nie Fulchcr, Alvie Fulcher, Curvia Hamilton. Mervin Rose, Chauncey Guthrie, Ashton Styron, Vance Gillikin, Sam Salter, Harold Guth rie, David L?wis, Terrell Scott, George Rose and James A. Rose, as well as the Gillikin brothers. There are 200 living species of scallops and many fossil scallops. Of the seven species reported hi North Carolina waters, the only variety of commercial value is the bay scallop (pecten irradians). ?* * I mmm ? Photo by Jerry Schumacher Crowd attends launching of cabin cruiser costing $18,000. MARINER IV A powerful, all purpose marine radio telephone Dependable built in two separate units for easy installation. Your best model for large yachts and commercial fleets CRUSADER II A compact, space saving unit all aluminum cabinet chassis front panel. Specifically engineered for medium size yachts and commercial A A Sets the Pace with Preview of line . . HUDSON-AMERICAN Marine Radio TELEPHONES Hudson American it the acknowledged leader in STYLING . . . ENGINEERING . . . PERFORMANCE. Ask the shrimp fleet owner who owns one. Your local dealer will provide "FREE" demonstration on model to fit your needs. PRIVATtIR IX.. A versatile unit with advanced circuit design ... for every boatsman. Recommended for tmcHI and medium size craft. Simplified con trols for easy operation. \ CORSAIR III... A quality instrument with new developments, such as screw driver tuning. Built for improved efficiency and ease of installation. Recom mended for small and medium size craft. ? Yftir local OmIwiI I A MACHINI * SUPPLY CO. INC. ?Mlfwti North Carolina HECTRONIC INOINEKRING COMPANY > Norfolk, Virginia HUDSON- AMERICAN CORPORATION ... A subsidiary of DYNAMICS CORP. Of AMERICA 23 W?St 43rd StTMt, New York 36... fxpert Division... 100 lost 42nd Street, Now York 17
Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 11, 1955, edition 3
22
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75