SCALLOP INDUSTRY OF NORTH CAROLINA 189' 



large mediums, $2.50 to $3.25 (chiefly $2.50 to $3) : and large,. 

 $3.50 to $4. Prices increased somewhat after this time. 



In the very early days of the shipping industry the scaUop fisher- 

 men .sokl their catch to dealers by the bushel. The price is said 

 to have been as low as 25 cents. Apparently, by 1897 they sold 

 generally by the gallon. For that year the price paid to the scallop 

 fishermen is given as 40 to 45 cents. Since then there has been a great 

 increase in price. In February, 1928, one of the largest shippers 

 furnished the following data as to prices paid the fishermen during 

 the season: Mediums, $1 to $1.20; large mediums, $1.50 to $2; and 

 large, $2.25 to $2.50. Since then, large scallops have brought as 

 high as $2 75 and even $3. Prices have not been as high this year as- 

 in some recent years. 



At the beginning of the .season a raker might take enough scal- 

 lops to shuck 4 to 6 gallons. These would bring him from $6 to $15,, 

 depending upon the percentage of large mediums or of large meats,, 

 the current price, and the quantity. The charge for shucking would 

 be $4 to $6. The wage return for"a day's scallop fishing thus figured 

 would be $4 to $12. By mid-February of this year, the catch per 

 man per day dropped, according to various reports, to about 1 gal- 

 lon, which 'brought $2.25 to $2.50. Somewhat larger or smaller 

 catches may be taken. By mid-March or even earlier catches as; 

 small as half a gallon are not at all unusual. 



Dredging is a more complicated matter, because the cost of opera- 

 tion and the wage for the boat should be considered, and these vary 

 greatly. If, with scallops plentiful, one man with a dredge boat 

 catches 40 bushels of scallops, which yield 15 gallons of meats worth 

 $1 a gallon, which cost him $7.50 for shucking, $7.50 is left for gaso- 

 line and oil, wear and tear of gear, and wages for boat and man. 

 If a gallon of meats were to be obtained from 2 bushels of scallops.. 

 the return for expenses and Avage of boat and man would be $10' 

 for a day of almost frantically hard work. A better price helps 

 even more than a better yield, for it does not affect the charge for 

 shucking. Although catches up to about 60 bushels a day may occur 

 now and then, 40 bushels is a good day's work. Small scallops from 

 dredging areas, and which the writer shucked about the time the 

 season opened, yielded from 21/2 to a little over 3 pints per bushel. 

 Because scallop fishermen know the areas where scallops giving the' 

 best yield of meats are to be found, doubtless many large catches of 

 scallops that yield half a gallon to the bushel are taken early in the 

 season. Later yield per bushel, size, and price improve but the- 

 catch becomes much smaller. Sample catches made on February 

 27, 1928, by Marshallberg dredgers and sold there for $2.50 a gallon 

 were in gallons, as follows: 6%, 2y^, 5 (2 men), 7 (2 men), 3, 71/2.. 

 12 (2 men), 3%, 1%, 151/8 (2 men), 51/2 (2 men), 71/2 (2 men). 

 4 (2 men). The gross return per man thus varied from $5 to $18.75 

 a day. The deduction for shucking reduces these figures to $4 and 

 $15, respectively, to cover expenses, wear and tear, overhead, and 

 wage. A 



The standard pay for opening scallops (1927-28) is 50 cents per 

 gallon of meats. This is an increase of 10 cents a gallon over the 

 rate prevalent a few years ago and of 37i/2 to 40 cents over that re- 

 ported for the seventies and eighties. An expert may open a bushel 



