scallop guide

it is one of the most eagerly anticipated dates of the fall on Nantucket.

PHOTO BY ROB BENCHLEY A bushel of scallops is the weekly limit for family scallopers. A time of year when island residents and visitors alike pull out their push rakes, waders, floating baskets, snorkel masks, flippers and wetsuits and take to the water to prospect for nuggets of Nantucket gold that lie hidden in the eel grass on the sandy bottom of the harbors.

It's T-minus one week to October 1, the start of family scallop season.

Many people have been plying the waters of Nantucket and Madaket harbors year after year, guarding their favorite scalloping spots as if they were the location of buried treasure.

For family scallop season rookies, it can seem like they are on the outside of a fraternity such as the Free Masons, hopelessly lacking the insight to collect their own pot of gold.

For those people, The Nantucket Independent is providing this guide on where you need to go, proper technique in collecting and opening and finally, how to cook the sweet morsels. First Stop: The Marine Department on Washington Street

PHOTO BY PETER D. BRACE Bambi and Tom Mleczko use viewboxes in Pocomo to find scallops on the harbor floor. Before hitting the waters, you need to make sure you are properly licensed with the town and purchase a shellfish permit from the Marine Department.

For residents of Nantucket, the cost is $25 and for non-residents, prepare to shell out $100. Cash not accepted. Bring a check or a credit card. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

To prove residency, you must bring a photo ID, such as a driver's license or a copy of a utility bill and the name on the bill must match the name of the person purchasing the license. If you are between the ages of 14 and 17, a parent's license will do.

Liz McIsaac, licensing agent for the Marine Department, will give you a copy of the license, a button to be worn while scalloping as well as a tide chart and a pamphlet with general information on where you can go and what constitutes a "legal scallop." (More on that later.)

INDEPENDENT FILE PHOTO Karen Nelthrop flips a scallop meat into a pail while shucking her last two boxes of the season in an Old North Wharf shanty. McIsaac, a veteran scalloper in her own right, will also answer any general questions you may have, just don't ask where she scallops.

"I try to give people as much information as I can," said McIsaac, before declining to share where she scallops.

McIsaac wanted to remind people that it is only legal to take scallops from Wednesday through Sunday and each person is limited to a bushel a week. Fines for taking more than your fair share, non-legal scallops or scalloping without a license can range from a talking to from the shellfish warden to fines and seizure of your equipment.

One of the most important pieces of information McIsaac will give you is "Nantucket's Guide to Shellfishing."

The guide covers all of the shellfish you are legally allowed to harvest, including scallops, quahogs, soft shell clams, blue mussels and oysters.

PHOTO BY ROB BENCHLEY There are few things in life more rewarding than gathering your own scallops. The granddaddy of them all and what you will be going after a week from today is the Nantucket Bay Scallop.

Where to get your gear

After obtaining your shellfish permit at the Marine Department, you may as well walk next door to Brant Point Marine to get everything you need to harvest scallops.

The marine store has push rakes built and designed by Brant Point Marine's owner Rick Kotalac. The rakes are offered in different sizes and cost about $90. A pair of waterproof neoprene waders cost about $150. While not an essential item, the waders keep you dry and warm while collecting the bounty. Trailing behind many push rakers is a wire basket held afloat by an inflated inner tube, both available at the marine for a combined price of around $70.

Lastly, once you reach home with your bushel of scallops, you may want to invest in an opening knife, which are in stock for $10.

The other option for those who don't mind a little cold water on the brain is to snorkel or scuba-dive for scallops. Snorkel sets are available at The Sunken Ship for around $50 and about $100-plus for a wet suit.

Where to go: Nantucket and Madaket Harbors

As mentioned, getting a specific location for scalloping out of a local is not always easy. Everyone swears by his or her own spots and guards them closely. As a basic rule, for push rakers and divers alike, shallow spots in either harbor with a thick carpet of eelgrass are locations that are going to produce the best results.

Easy to get to locations like off Pocomo Point, Monomoy and nearly anywhere in Madaket Harbor are a good place for beginners.

Look for areas of dark water at low tide, a telltale sign of an eel grass bed. Be mindful of currents, especially in Madaket Harbor, where the recently opened cut between Smith's Point and Esther's Island have changed the flow of water in and out of the harbor.

Those with four-wheel drive vehicles can head out to Coatue and try their luck in-between any of the points, where fewer people will be competing for the same scallops.

What to do once you're there

Push raking: Going out at low tide is the best option, as you will have access to more of the harbor floor. Put your rake on the bottom in front of you at an angle and simply walk forward. It will soon be filled with the loose eelgrass that you scrape off the bottom and, if you're lucky, a few scallops.

Diving: If you are diving, swim slowly over the eel grass beds and look for a hole in the waving blades. Once you think you have spotted one, take a breath and head down to see if it is what you are looking for. More often than not, its won't be, but once in a while you will find a cluster of scallops and will be able to collect four or five on one breath.

For both methods, trial and error and a lot of practice will yield better and better results.

Determining a legal scallop

According to the town, a legal scallop must have a "raised growth ring" for it to be taken. A growth ring is the same as it is on a tree. To see if the scallop you have harvested is legal, run your fingernail along the shell and see if you hit a bump. That is the growth ring, meaning it is legal.

Scallops live to be around two to two-and-a-half years oldand reproduce in their second year.

Depending on what time of year they reproduce, the growth ring may appear at different places on the scallop.

This is where the waters get murky as to what is legal and where the term "nub" enters the lexicon.

According to a long-time commercial scalloper known only as Martie - a nub is a legal scallop with a raised growth ring. The difference between a nub and a traditional legal scallop is the location of the growth ring.

"The growth ring on a nub is very small, and it's located way down by the hinge of the scallop," said Martie. "Adult scallops spat (reproduce) sometime in the early summer, perhaps in July. Some years, they don't spat until much later in the summer or even as late as early fall. When the scallops spat late, the seed they produce does not grow in the colder waters of the fall season. So the following year, you get a nub scallop, which has the raised growth ring way down by the hinge. Most times, the growth ring is located in the middle part of the shell. This is what is confusing people. They tend to think that a nub scallop may be a seed scallop."

Cooking the Scallop

When cooking the Nantucket bay scallop, islanders seem to agree that no more than two ingredients should be used. Since the scallop has a distinct flavor, it should not be masked by numerous seasonings.

At The Nantucket Independent, a favorite recipe among the editorial staff is to heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of cloves of garlic in a hot frying pan. Add a pound of scallops and quickly sauté them, turning once when they are slightly brown. It should take about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overcook or the scallop will get tough. I