Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-14
UNCLE sam MAKES YOU
f MONEY.
Why Finding ScaIIop
Beds.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

iii by xTeQ6IlC j 16Skln. III
An inexhaustible bed of giant seal
lops thirty miles off the Atlantic coast
has been found and mapped as re-
suit of scientific expedition sent
forth by the government bureau of
fisheries AS scallops are held by
many to be the daintiest Of sea foods,
it is maintained that this discovery
will undoubtedly result in a material
addition to the nations food supply
The manner of this discovery is in
teresting and reveals the way in which
the work of the scientist dovetails
into that of the practical and material
man of affairs. The scientific men Of
the bureau of fisheries wanted to know
just what were the .'oceanographic
facts with relation to the waters OF
the Atlantic coast from Florida to
Newfoundland They wanted to know
depths and currents of water and par
ticularly temperatures. Temperatures
to the student of sea life are the most
important indication of the creatures
that will be found living in any body
of water. Aside from drawing conclu-
sions as to sea life indicated by tenn
peratures, an actual examination was
made 10 ascertain what living cEea-
lures might actually be found.
This resulted in the discovery Of the
beds of giant scallops. But before treat
ing these let us look at an example of
this effect of water temperatures. In MAX
ting its oceanographic studies the bureau
of fisheries sent scientific man with the
coast guard boats that operate the ice
berg patrol off the Grand Banks, on the
route to Europe. This man made the
somewhat surprising discovery that the
cold waters that came down out of the
north were full of life. while the warm
waters of the gulf stream were almost
free from it.
The conditions of the world beneath
the waters seem to be the reverse of
those a b ov
Striking Conditions it's surface.
Found in Waters. f aa out
Of the north is often followed by
swarms of bird life and other swarms
of fishes. This is due to the fact that
these waters of the north are full OF
that lowest form of life known as the
diatom. They are also alive with the
copepod. a sort of sea flea. Upon these
small creatures live larger ones. and
upon these still others, until finally the
whale is reached. and even this monster
sticks closely to the cold waters, for
there it's food is plentiful. The men OF
the bureau of fisheries observed the
cutting up of a giant whale in the gilis
of which were found many tons of
copepods that it had strained from the
water.
This same preference of the creatures
of the sea for cold water holds in the
case of the giant scallop. Previously 1t
had been known to exist only where
the deep and cold waters come close to
the coast of Maine As soundings were
taken far out from the shore in waters
that were correspondingly deep and
AS those depths and those temperatures
were followed south, the prize shellflsh
persisted until the belt of it was traced
to a point opposite Cape Hatteras.
There is not one man in ten In the
United States who is familiar with
scallops as food. 1t is frequently en-
countered in the restaurants of the At
1antic coast. but has not heretofore
been shipped inland to any great ex-
tent. The production has amounted to
but about 100000 gallons of meat a
year, which is not much Of supply
for a. hundred million people.
The majority of this meat was Of the |
small or common scallop, which fire.
Small Sized Scallops shallow wa
Are Familiar to Many. Island s u and
the New England coast. These we're
but four inches across at most. They |
are familiar to almost everybody in
the little fan-like clam shell that is to
be picked up on most beaches. and the
larger varieties of which may be found
In the curio stores tied together with
ribbons and for sale as souvenirs OF
excursions to the seashore.
The edible part of the scallop is the
muscle which holds the two portions
of the shell together. When 1t is cap
tured the shell is opened. the muscle
is taken out and the other portions of
the creature are discarded. The usual
method of preparation is to chop this
meat up, to make 1t into balls the size
of a marble and to cook these in hot
grease. The consensus Of opinion is
that the result is morsel Of great
The giant scallop industry has here
tofore been limited to the coast of
Maine. There the fishermen have cap
tured $1,000 gallons Of meat each sea-
which are dragged along the bottom
and scoop up the scallops. These
dredges are very substantial nets made
up of woven chain. They are dragged
power boats. After run of a mile
the catch is pulled aboard and the meat
is taken out.
The meat in a single scaliop of this
sort is sometimes as big as the wrist
and three inches long. Each scallop
Yields something like half a pound Of
it. which means that II has food
value about equal to that of small
frying chicken.
There Is no other of the bivalves that
develops the peculiar meat value Of
the scailop.
Meat Value of Scallop It's pecu-
7. rYnI;L. r.. r.u. liarity is
due to the
That ,,nJ;Le ;,. $.ty1u,.