(Posted on FaceBook April 29, 2020)
The Maine scallop dredging season ended in March. But, the scallop diving season is still open until the end of April and a few vessels are in our coastal waters with divers aboard who hand-harvest the more expensive “divers scallops” from the sea bottom.
Some divers dive off the backs of the same vessels used for dredging during that season: lobster boats converted into dredgers with masts and booms and other bottom-sweeping gear for harvesting scallops. However, some divers prefer to use smaller, highly maneuverable boats that can be trailered around and operated with an outboard motor that sips gasoline, rather than a powerful engine that gulps more expensive diesel fuel.
The boat shown abiove is like those that some fishermen use for scallop diving, but we don’t know if it is one of them. We simply like the way it was powering down Eggemoggin Reach all alone on the sunny morning of April 25. Here’s Dayspring, which our neighbor has been using this month to dive for scallops:
We do know that the Captain Morgan, shown below, was a full-fledged scallop dredger this winter. You’re seeing her here in Blue Hill Harbor on April 8, having her scalloping equipment removed; including her boxy “shelling house” that protected scallop shuckers from the winter cold.
We’ll likely see her again in the summer lobster season – if there is one. (Brooklin and Blue Hill, Maine)