Hunting... underwater! NS Catch & Cook

325 Views 13 Replies 3 Participants Last post by louisbear, 8 d ago

ALW

Discussion Starter · 9 d ago

This came up on Youtube and was really interesting. Figured some of you would enjoy it as well. Buddy has quite a few videos on his channel, including several here in NS. He has a parter about canoeing/fishing in the Tangier Grand area I want to check out. These ones kinda make a fella think maybe he should get a wetsuit! LoL

What an awesome province and country we live in to have opportunities like this within a relatively short drive for any of us with the interest and gumption! If a fella doesn't have the growlies after watching this, better check for a pulse. After watching the first clip I was so hungry my stomach thought my throat was cut, as gramp used to say.

If I ever wished for the proverbial smell-o-vision it was when they were cooking those scallops on the half shell with compound butter over the campfire! I was wondering why they weren't eating a few raw while they waited though. Nothing better! I enjoy lobster, I LOVE scallops! Very interesting about the scallop corals/roe here in NS however. Did not know that. I'm not sure what that means regarding any mollusk/filter feeder along our shores?

I'd say they had about as good a catch & cook fisherman's platter, in about as beautiful a setting as one could ever hope for. Right here at home! My only criticism was that I was thinking on their way to the island, and was proven correct on their return...

I was genuinely concerned for their safety in that canoe in coastal waters, carrying 3 guys and all that gear. Very glad I wasn't on board. 😧

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ALW

Discussion Starter · #2 · 9 d ago

Here are 2 more on scallop diving, including finding a bunch of lobster just hanging out. What awesome beaches and sandy bottomed areas he is visiting. We might not have the warm water temperatures of many popular tourist destinations, but we certainly have as beautiful and pristine waters as many of those locations (looking anyway... the scallop corals seem to challenge that). The gradients of blues, greens and turquoises in those waters was amazing. The kelp, seaweed and eel grass covered bottoms were equal to a tropical coral reef IMO. I'm assuming that was all filmed with just a gopro type camera too.

Those scallops & prawns looked like they were fit for the finest restaurant. I think the only way the boys coulda been more Nova Scotian is if they had a cooler full of Keiths when he opened it and said, "Scallops & Pops!"

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louisbear

· #3 · 9 d ago

Back in early eighties I scuba dived for scollops along the eastern shore. The bag limit of a 100 scollops has not changed in over forty years according to the above videos. The best tasting scollops were the raw ones. You needed to cut them in two and check for worms before consuming them though. Also, we had several scollops straight from the shell, fried up in hot butter in a cast iron frying pan over a campfire. Yes, those were the days. However, during this time period I had a serious allergic reaction after eating lobster one evening and went into anaphylactic shock and required hospitalization. Needless to say my shellfish eating days were over.
The ocean bottom off of Nova Scotia holds lots of beautiful vegetation and aquatic life, not to mention the crystal clear waters on a calm day.
Scuba diving and Snorkelling offers up an entirely different world to those who are interested.

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ALW

Discussion Starter · #4 · 9 d ago

louisbear said:
Back in early eighties I scuba dived for scollops along the eastern shore. The bag limit of a 100 scollops has not changed in over forty years according to the above videos.

Curious louisbear if there was any public warnings regarding consuming the roe/corals from the scallops when you were diving for them? I had never heard of any warnings myself, other than periodic closures and warnings for possible red tide contamination.

I've never done it myself, but years ago a fella we knew showed up at a buddies house with a hockey duffle bag full of scallops in the shell and lobsters they had gotten diving. We sat out on the deck shucking scallops and eating them and grilled lobster along with cold pints, until we were bursting. That was the first time I ever tried a raw fresh scallop. Absolutely incredible! Not sure how a thawed frozen one from the grocery store would taste, but cut right from the shell they are as good or better than any I've had cooked.

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louisbear

· #5 · 9 d ago

No public warnings back in the day, except for red tide like you mentioned . Raw scallops, fresh out of the cold Atlantic have a taste and texture like nothing else. After the meats were frozen, they were not as enjoyable raw.
Diving for scollops was a lot of fun and a good way to harvest some fresh shell fish for your freezer.

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TrueGrit

· #6 · 9 d ago

I don't know how many years ago that was or if it was allowed years ago, but diving for lobsters hasn't been legal for a good number of years, if it ever was. Best to check the fishing regs before anyone attempts it. You do see some huge lobsters when diving, though! Like Louisbear said, the number for scallops has been the same for years, if I recall correctly.

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ALW

Discussion Starter · #7 · 9 d ago

The fellas diving were Mi'kmaw. I didn't dive for them, and we weren't with them when they harvested them. Buddy brought his catch to another buddies to share in a feast. And feast we did!

I laughed at how aggressive the lobsters were in the video. A few of them turned and reared claws up when the diver got close. I expect a claw pinch 15-20' underwater when you can't even holler would suck! LoL I'm betting those seals that were checking them out get to have an all they can eat buffet on those lobsters too. It was interesting seeing the lobster 'in the wild'.

louisbear, did you ever keep any of the rest of the scallops to eat, besides the adductor muscle? I often wondered if those parts would be good used in a chowder or something? It seems like such a waste, when we scarf down those parts from clams, oysters and mussels without a second thought.

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louisbear

· #8 · 9 d ago (Edited)

ALW, we just took out the muscle. Most of the time the meats were harvested by a buddy or two in the boat and the shells were returned directly to the water. The shells helped with the overall marine ecosystem and were used by scallops and other shell fish as a material on which to attach their larvae once it settled to the bottom . Once attached it is called “Spat”.

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ALW

Discussion Starter · #9 · 9 d ago

I noticed on the video that almost every scallop they found had smaller shellfish attached to the outside of their shells. I've gone oyster picking and mussel gathering before, and a lot of those were also attached to older empty shells in the beds. Buddy notes that there are minimum size limits and to never take too many from any given area. Common sense really.

Got an awful craving for steamed mussels and some scallops sauteed in butter!

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louisbear

· #10 · 9 d ago (Edited)

Why most people just eats the meats of a scallop.

Scallops

Scallops are the shell-fish whose shells look like the logo for Shell oil. They need anywhere from 18 months to 2 years to grow to market size. They can live up to 20 years old, but those are too tough to eat. Scallops don't burrow into the sand, like many other shellfish do. Instead, they jus

www.cooksinfo.com

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ALW

Discussion Starter · #11 · 9 d ago

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting. Gotta say though that reading that really does make me wonder about potential contaminants in other filter feeding shellfish however. Guess maybe its a good thing most of it is so bloody expensive that a fella can't afford to eat it regularly if buying it.

Still, I'm craving a feed of scallops worse than ever now. Think I will have to run to town tomorrow to see if the guy is set up alongside the road in Bible Hill selling fish, and grab a bag or two of scallops. I've been kinda disappointed in the scallops from the grocery store the last few times I have bought some. I think maybe they were those water & phosphate packaged scallops mentioned in the information you posted? They certainly weren't as good as they could/should have been I thought.

Nothing better than surf & turf when the surf is scallops alongside a medium rare charcoal grilled striploin. Pavlov's dogs got nothing on me thinking about that meal! Add a baked potato (russet or sweet), sauteed mushrooms and some roasted Brussel sprouts... have to be close to as good a last meal as I could imagine. 🤤

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louisbear

· #12 · 9 d ago

AWL, I will take an order of the above meal mention , without the scallops because if I ate the scallops it may very well be my last meal!😬

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TrueGrit

· #13 · 8 d ago

louisbear said:
AWL, I will take an order of the above meal mention , without the scallops because if I ate the scallops it may very well be my last meal!😬

I know a guy that had the same thing happen, though not as severe as your case. Ate lobster for years, then became allergic to it. He has no problems with any other shellfish, though. I guess if it was as bad as your case was, I would probably steer clear of all shellfish, just to be safe!

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louisbear

· #14 · 8 d ago

Northern Scavenger broke the cardinal rule of Scuba and Snorkelling in the last video. Always Dive With A Buddy. He was worried about blacking out from hyperventilation but still went out alone. This is exactly how people end up drowning.

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