At commercial scales, the Chinese hat collectors, with the small scallops still attached by their byssus, are placed in small mesh bags and hung out in the ocean on long lines to grow like their wild counterparts. The secret is to grow the spat as economically as possible and maximize their growth rate. At this stage they are about one year old. This is usually done in fine mesh lantern nets or pearl nets. These are suspended on long lines deep enough in the water to be below the action of surface waves.
Long lines consist of length of polythene rope anchored firmly at each end.
They have floats and ballast weights to keep the line suspended just far enough below the surface to avoid the wave action. Scallops do not like to be jiggled. The farmer s secret is to find a site where there is good water exchange and plankton supply, and where temperatures are suitable. Fast growing juveniles will need to be checked regularly and thinned into larger mesh nets as they grow. Any mussels that may bind the scallops together with byssus threads must be removed.