Scalloped shape The term "scalloped" is used to designate a decorative pattern, resembling the wavy scallop surface, that is used at the edges of furniture, fabrics, and other items.
Fisheries The largest wild scallop fishery is for the Atlantic sea scallop (
Placopecten magellanicus) found off the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Scallops are harvested using
scallop dredges or bottom trawls. Most of the rest of the world's production of scallops is from Japan (wild, enhanced, and aquaculture) and China (mostly cultured Atlantic bay scallops). In the
D'Entrecasteaux Channel in the south of Tasmania dredging was banned in 1969, and since then
divers have caught them in this area. Attempts to use lighted pots to attract
lobster and
crab led to the discovery that they were effective in attracting scallops.
Sustainability The scallop fishery in New Zealand declined from a catch of 1246 tonnes in 1975 to 41 tonnes in 1980, at which point the government ordered the fishery closed.
Spat seeding in the 1980s helped it recover, and catches in the 1990s were up to 684 tonnes. The
Tasman Bay area was closed to commercial scallop harvesting from 2009 to 2011 due to a decline in the numbers. The commercial catch was down to 22 tonnes in 2015, and the fishery was closed again. The main causes for the decline seem to be fishing, climate effects, disease, pollutants, and sediment runoff from farming and forestry. On the east coast of the
United States, over the last 100 years, the populations of bay scallops have greatly diminished due to several factors but probably mostly due to a reduction in seagrasses (to which bay scallop spat attach) caused by increased coastal development and concomitant nutrient runoff. Another possible factor is the reduction of sharks from overfishing. A variety of sharks used to feed on
rays, which are the main predator of bay scallops. With the shark population reduced – this
apex predator in some places almost eliminated – the rays have been free to feed on scallops to greatly decrease their numbers. By contrast, the Atlantic sea scallop (
Placopecten magellanicus) is at historically high levels of abundance after recovery from overfishing.
As food Scallops are characterized by offering two flavors and textures in one shell: the meat, called "scallop", which is firm and white, and the roe, called "coral", which is soft and often brightly coloured reddish-orange. Sometimes, markets sell scallops already prepared in the shell, with only the meat remaining. Outside the U.S., the scallop is often sold whole. They are available both with and without coral in the UK and Australia. Scallops without any additives are called "dry-packed", while scallops that are treated with
sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) are called "wet-packed". STPP causes the scallops to absorb moisture prior to the freezing process, thereby increasing their weight. The freezing process takes about two days. In
French cuisine, scallops are often quickly cooked in a hot buttered pan, sometimes with
calvados and served with creamed leeks, or prepared in a white wine sauce. In
Galician cuisine, scallops are baked with breadcrumbs, ham, and onions. In
Scotland, scallops are a delicacy, particularly
king scallops. They are usually pan-fried and often served with
black pudding or
bacon. Scallops are sometimes breaded, deep-fried, and served with
coleslaw and
french fries in the northeastern
United States (either on their own or as part of a
fisherman's platter). In
New England, some seafood restaurants offer scallop rolls, consisting of breaded scallops on a grilled, split-top
hot dog bun. In
Japanese cuisine, scallops may be served in soup or prepared as
sashimi or
sushi. In a sushi bar,
hotategai (帆立貝, 海扇) is the traditional scallop on rice and, while
kaibashira (貝柱) is more loosely used to include other shellfish species with round-shaped flesh (the adductor muscle), such as
Atrina pectinata (帶子). Dried scallop is known in
Cantonese Chinese cuisine as
conpoy (乾瑤柱, 乾貝, 干貝).
Smoked scallops are sometimes served as
appetizers or used as an ingredient in the preparation of various dishes and appetizers. Scallops have lent their name to the culinary term "scalloped", which originally referred to seafood creamed and served hot in the shell. Today, it means a creamed casserole dish such as
scalloped potatoes, which contains no seafood at all. File:Large scallops.jpg|Adductor muscle meat of
giant scallop File:Upclosedriedscallop.jpg|Dried scallops, also known as
conpoy File:Fried scallops on stick.jpg|Fried scallops on a stick served with rice File:Scallops (45640549224).jpg|Pan seared scallops
Pearls Scallops do occasionally produce
pearls, though scallop pearls do not have the buildup of translucent layers or "nacre" which give desirability to the pearls of the
feather oysters, and usually lack both
lustre and
iridescence. They can be dull, small, and of varying colour, but exceptions occur that are appreciated for their aesthetic qualities.
Symbolism The
Shell company, one of the world's biggest companies, is represented by a scallop. The scallop shell symbol found its way into
heraldry as a badge of those who had been on the pilgrimage to Compostela, although later, it became a symbol of pilgrimage in general.
Sir Winston Churchill and
Lady Diana's family, the
Spencer family coat of arms includes a scallop, as well as both of Diana's sons
Prince William and
Prince Harry's personal coats of arms; also Pope
Benedict XVI's personal coat of arms includes a scallop; another example is the surname
Wilmot and also
John Wesley's (which as a result the scallop shell is used as an emblem of
Methodism). However, charges in heraldry do not always have an unvarying symbolic meaning, and there are cases of arms in which no family member went on a pilgrimage, and the occurrence of the scallop is simply a pun on the name of the
armiger (as in the case of
Jacques Coeur), or for other reasons. In 1988, the State of
New York in the US chose the
bay scallop (
Argopecten irradians) as its
state shell.
Shell of Saint James The scallop shell is the traditional emblem of
St James the Great and is popular with pilgrims travelling the Way of St James (
Camino de Santiago). Medieval Christians would collect a scallop shell while at
Compostela as evidence of having made the journey. The association of Saint James with the scallop can most likely be traced to the legend that the apostle once rescued a knight covered in scallops. An alternative version of the legend holds that while St. James' remains were being transported to Galicia (Spain) from
Jerusalem. As the ship approached land, the wedding of the daughter of
Queen Lupa was taking place on shore. The young groom was on horseback, and, upon seeing the ship's approach, his horse got spooked, and horse and rider plunged into the sea. Through miraculous intervention, the horse and rider emerged from the water alive, covered in seashells. Indeed, in French, the mollusc itself – as well as a popular preparation of it in cream sauce – is called . In German they are – literally "James's shellfish". Curiously the
Linnaean name
Pecten jacobeus is given to the Mediterranean scallop, while the scallop endemic to Galicia is called
Pecten maximus due to its bigger size. The scallop shell is represented in the decoration of churches named after St. James, such as in
St James' Church, Sydney, where it appears in a number of places, including in the mosaics on the floor of the
chancel. When referring to St James, a scallop shell valve is displayed with its convex outer surface showing. In contrast, when the shell refers to the goddess Venus (see below), it is displayed with its concave interior surface showing. Many paintings of
Venus, the Roman goddess of love and fertility, included a scallop shell in the painting to identify her. This is evident in
Botticelli's classically inspired 15th century painting
The Birth of Venus. One legend of the
Way of St. James holds that the route was seen as a fertility pilgrimage, undertaken when a young couple desired to bear offspring. The scallop shell is believed to have originally been carried by pagans as a symbol of fertility.
Other interpretations Alternatively, the scallop resembles the setting sun, which was the focus of the pre-Christian Celtic rituals of the area. To wit, the pre-Christian roots of the
Way of St. James was a Celtic death journey westwards towards the setting sun, terminating at the
End of the World (
Finisterra) on the "Coast of Death" (
Costa da Morte) and the "Sea of Darkness" (i.e., the Abyss of Death, the
Mare Tenebrosum, Latin for the Atlantic Ocean, itself named after the
Dying Civilization of Atlantis).
Contemporary art titled
The Scallop erected in 2003 on the beach at
Aldeburgh, England The beach at
Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England, features
Maggi Hambling's steel sculpture,
The Scallop, erected in 2003 as a memorial to the composer
Benjamin Britten, who had a long association with the town. == See also ==