In connection with the above comes the question, if we can thus preserve scallops doomed to destruction, will it not be profitable to transplant scallops to places where the scalloping has been exterminated by various causes, and by means of these "seeders" furnish succeeding generations which may populate the barren areas? This plan is practical and feasible, and should be given due consideration. Why should not scallops be transplanted to our Buzzards Bay harbors, to again restock these areas? Often the attempt might fail, but there is bound to be success if there is perseverance. The best time to plant these scallops is in the fall, as a double service will be given: (1) preservation from destruction of the seed scallops; (2) furnishing spawn and young in the barren locality. Ingersoll speaks of the restocking of Oyster Bay in 1880:—
In the spring of 1880 eel grass came into the bay, bringing young scallops [the eel grass carries the scallops attached to it by the thread-like byssus]; thus the abundance of that year was accounted for, though there had not been a crop before in that bay since 1874.
If such a restocking can be accomplished by nature, it can be done with more certain effect with man's assistance.
The Industry.
I. The Methods.—The methods of scalloping follow the historical rise of the fishery. As the industry grew more and more important, improvements became necessary in the methods of capture, and thus, parallel with the development of the industry, we can trace a corresponding development in the implements used in the capture of the scallop.
(a) Gathering by Hand.—When the scallop was first used as an article of food, the primitive method of gathering this bivalve by hand was used. This method still exists on the flats of Brewster, and often in other localities after heavy gales wagons can be driven to the beach and loaded with the scallops which have been blown ashore.
(b) Scoop Nets.—This hand method was not rapid enough for the enterprising scallopers, and the next step in the industry was the use of scoop nets, about 8 inches in diameter, by which the scallops could be picked up in the water. These nets were attached to poles of various lengths, suitable to the depth of water. "This method," writes Ingersoll, "was speedily condemned, however, because it could be employed only where scallops are a foot thick and inches in length, as one fisherman expressed it."
(c) The Pusher.—The next invention was the so-called "pusher." The "pusher" consists of a wooden pole from 8 to 9 feet long, attached to a rectangular iron frame 3 by 1½ feet, upon which is fitted a netting bag 3 feet in depth. The scalloper, wading on the flats at low tide, gathers the scallops by shoving the "pusher" among the eel grass. When the bag is full, the contents are emptied into the dory and the process repeated. The scallopers who use the "pusher" go in dories, which are taken to the various parts of the scalloping ground and moved whenever the immediate locality is exhausted. This method is in use to-day, but is applicable only to shallow flats, and can be worked only at low tide, where dredging is impossible. It is hard work, and not as profitable as the better method of dredging. This method of scalloping is used chiefly at Chatham, Dennis and Yarmouth; occasionally it is used at Nantucket and other towns.
(d) Dredging.—The greater part of the scallop catch is taken by dredging, which is the most universal as well as the most profitable method. The dredge, commonly pronounced "drudge," consists of an iron framework about 3 by 1½ feet, with a netting bag attached, which will hold from one to two bushels of scallops. Cat boats, carrying from 6 to 10 dredges, are used for this method of scalloping. These boats, with several "reefs," cross the scallop grounds pulling the dredges, which hold the boat steady in her course. A single run with all the dredges overboard is called a "drift." The contents of all the dredges is said to be the result or catch of the "drift."