Calico Scallops of the Southeastern United States, 1959-69 



By 

 ROBERT CUMMINS, JR., Supervisory Fishery Biologist 



National Marine Fisheries Service 



Exploratory Fishing and Gear Research Station 



Brunswick, Georgia 31520 



ABSTRACT 



The report summarizes developments concerning the calico scallop resource of 

 the southeastern United States. A brief background is provided followed by a descrip- 

 tion of the fishery in North Carolina and subsequent expansion to the Florida grounds. 

 Included are sections dealing with developments in the fishery, quality of the scallop 

 and its parasites. A chronological review is made of the development of processing 

 machinery; recent industry activity is summarized; and cooperative technical Bu- 

 reau of Commercial Fisheries (now National Marine Fisheries Service) assistance 

 is described. 



INTRODUCTION 



Calico scallops (Argopecten gibbus) occur in 

 the western Atlantic from Cape Hatteras to 

 Brazil including the Gulf of Mexico. Trawl 

 fishermen have caught them sporadically but 

 they have been regarded as a nuisance. Prob- 

 lems of handling, processing, and marketing 

 were of little or no concern partly because these 

 fishermen were primarily equipped for shrimp 

 fishing in different areas and depths and partly 

 because of the lack of an established fishery for 

 calico scallops. Prior to 1960, concentration 

 areas of calico scallops were unknown. 



Early explorations indicated that the species 

 was widely distributed along the southeast 

 coast of North Carolina in 1959 and in the Gulf 

 of Mexico in 1957. Subsequent explorations and 

 preliminary resource assessment of calico scal- 

 lops have been largely confined to three areas 

 (fig. 1) : North Carolina (Cummins, Rivers, 

 and Struhsaker, 1962 ) , the east coast of Florida 

 (Bullis and Cummins, 1961; Drummond, 1969), 

 and the east Gulf of Mexico (Bullis and Ingle, 

 1959; Carpenter, 1967). In addition to North 

 Carolina and eastern Florida, small numbers 



have been reported off South Carolina and 

 Georgia. Scallop explorations in these areas 

 have been very limited. 



As a continuing part of exploratory fishing, 

 numerous scallop cruises were conducted which 

 provided information on location, distribution, 

 availability, catch rates, sizes, meat yield, gear, 

 and methods. Dredging demonstrations at sea 

 were given to fishermen, inventors, and pros- 

 pective investors as well as assistance to com- 

 mercial vessels in locating shell stock. Tests of 

 scallop processing equipment were conducted 

 at sea aboard the exploratory fishing vessel. 

 Scallop meats were provided for study by the 

 Bureau (Waters, 1964) and industry and for 

 market development and shell stock for test 

 purposes ashore. Information may be obtained 

 from Silver Bay Cruise Report Nos. 18, 20 

 through 36, 39, 41, 42, 47, 51, 52, and 55; Ore- 

 gon Cruise Report No's. 95, 97, 103, 108, 116, 

 117, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134 

 and 136 ; and George M. Boivers Cruise Report 

 Nos. 85 and 90.' 



Contribution No. 220. 



1 Silver Bay, Oregon and George M. Bowers cruise 

 reports were published in Commercial Fisheries Re- 

 view and are also available from the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service Exploratory Fishing and Gear Re- 

 search Station, Brunswick, Ga. 



