Reports of the scallops’ demise are premature, at least that was true in certain East Hampton Town harbors and select locations in Southampton Town.
On opening day for state waters, Nov. 4, the hope of an even marginal season seemed lost. Harvesters pulled dredges across miles of bay bottom, finding few scallops and an alarming proportion of empty shells. The take was so poor that none were for sale in the shops, and at the Lesters’ shucking houses on Abraham’s Path, their “scallops for sale” signs were not to be seen.
From my Gardiner’s Bay house I noticed a pair of baymen making slow offshore circles over about two days. They had to be getting something, I figured, otherwise it would not have been worth the gas.
The inside harbors under town jurisdiction opened on Sunday for divers and look-boxers. Power dredging opened Monday. Early on Sunday, a friend relayed still bad news: Someone had pulled a bushel out but two people nearby had none. Still, opening day comes but once a year, and I would be damned if I did not give it a shot.
As these things go, the outboard on my boat crapped out just before we made it to the scallop grounds. Luckily, we were able to secure a tow from a passing bayman who took us to a likely spot, where we anchored and jumped over the side. A friend’s “I just got two” was the first indication we would have a good day.
Diving for scallops in cold water is easy enough once you get past the initial sting of putting in your head. After that, it’s just kicking around looking, dipping down when you see a scallop and tossing it into your bag. In about an hour, I had loaded a bushel — the recreational harvester’s daily limit.
One of our group, a commercial guy, as they are called, picked close to three, handing a half-full bag to the bayman who towed us home just before dark by way of thanks.
Across the Peconic Bay estuary, scallop surveys were poor, though. Up closer to Riverhead, where the seawater reached 84 degrees this summer, Cornell Cooperative Extension divers saw signs that nearly all the adult scallops had died, but just recently. Whether the heat or something else was responsible is not at all obvious.
For anyone who has been around the water here long enough, the rises and dips of scallops from year to year are nothing new. Like many marine animals whose numbers fluctuate, there can be long stretches of nothing, then sudden abundance. It has been a few years since I caught more than a half-dozen bluefish in an entire season, for example. Blowfish went away for a decade or more; now they are everywhere. Black sea bass and porgies seem plenty, although striped bass are said to be on a downswing.
As for scallops, who knows. Seems there will be enough around for me until the water gets too cold to dive.