July 5, 2005 Trip report

[Boston Diver Services]

We headed out to dive the wreck of the Romance today. But rough seas combined with a stiff current sent us back into the islands for a more sheltered site. We decided that a couple of dives for scallops was in order.

Dive 1. was in 60fsw. the water temp was a balmy 67. Upon reaching the anchor we knew it was going to be a successful dive. The anchor had landed in a medium sized scallop bed. Within 35 min. we had filled the catch bags to capacity.

As we had pretty much cleaned out that bed, for dive 2. we moved a bit west in hope of catching another pile of scallops. Not much luck here. Only a few scallops but plenty of huge bugs were around.

Within a half hour the scallops were shucked and on the grill. They don't get much fresher than that.

Capt. Pat Breen
Boston Diver Services
bostondiverservices.com​

 

[MSilvia]

Sounds like a good day!

 

[ClassAction]

I guess you just have to be careful when cleaning the scallops?

http://www.mass.gov/dph/fpp/redtide.htm
What seafoods are unsafe to eat from waters where red tide occurs?
Only a few marine animals accumulate these toxins. Shellfish, including hard-shell clams, soft-shell clams, oysters, mussels and scallops, are particularly prone to contamination as they feed by filtering microscopic food out of the water. If toxic planktonic organisms are present, they are filtered from the water along with other nontoxic foods. Whelks and moon snails can also accumulate dangerous levels of the toxin during red tide as they feed on contaminated shellfish.

During red tide blooms, hard-shell clams, soft-shell clams, oysters, mussels, whelks, and moon snails harvested from areas affected by the blooms are not safe to eat. Since toxins are stored in the digestive tract (stomach) and viscera (intestines) of these animals, scallops are safe to eat as long as only cleaned adductor muscle (the only part generally eaten) is consumed. Lobster meat, crabs, shrimp, and most finfish do not normally accumulate toxin and are safe to eat from affected waters. Lobster tomalley (the green part or liver) is not safe to eat in general, and particularly during red tide events because this part of the lobster can build up high levels of toxins and other pollutants.

 

[MSilvia]

You don't have to be THAT careful... if you get a scallop with a part that isn't the adductor, you'll know it. If all you see is a nice meaty white medallion, it's fine.

 

[lord1234]

i thgouht they had lifted the red tide warning

 

[ClassAction]

Shell-fishing Ban Due to Red Tide May Be Lifted
By Bob Oakes

Listen to story (Real Audio)

Cape Cod, MA - July 01, 2005 - A shell-fishing ban due to a Red Tide outbreak might soon be lifted as the harmful algae outbreak appears to be abating, according to state and local environmental officials.

In the meantime, shellfish beds remain closed on the Massachusetts shore, as they have been for a month, due to the worst Red Tide bloom since 1972.

The single-celled organisms that make up the bloom render shellfish inedible to humans, causing illness or even death if they're eaten.

Don Anderson, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, talks about what to expect for the long holiday weekend.

 

[Boston Diver Services]

All I know is they tasted great. How long do the effects take to kick in!!??

People who eat shellfish containing Alexandrium toxin may be afflicted with paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). PSP can result from eating just a few clams. Saxitoxin attacks the human nervous system within 30 minutes with symptoms that may include numbness of the lips, tingling of the extremities, uncoordinated movements, incoherent speech, and nausea. PSP symptoms ma be mistaken for drunkenness. In severe cases, paralysis of the breathing mechanism can cause death within a few hours.

And I thought I had a few too many bottles of ale.

 

[MSilvia]

All I know is they tasted great. How long do the effects take to kick in!!??

The effects are almost immediate. There really isn't any danger of getting PSP from scallops, unless you eat the WHOLE scallop (except the shell, of course) instead of just the adductor muscle. Most folks, if not all, throw everything but the muscle out when shucking them. Red tide is really a non-issue with scallops.

 

[scubastew]

Matt is 100% correct. With Clams people generally eat their digestive track (stomache, liver, etc.) but with scallops (and lobsters) we consume their muscle. Basically (as I understand it and I am not a marine biologist, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night) clams consume nutrients by ingesting water and filtering out the "good stuff" i.e. food while the liver (and other digestive organs) retains the "bad stuff" for a little while. I believe with the Red Tide bacteria the clam's ldigestive track becomes over-loaded with "bad stuff", so you eat that you barf. I guess that's about as non-scientific an explaination that you may get.

Again Matt's dead-on, the experts say the muscle of the scallop is a-okay to eat.

 

[MSilvia]

With Clams people generally eat their digestive track (stomache, liver, etc.) but with scallops (and lobsters) we consume their muscle.

Even if you ate the organs of a lobster though, you wouldn't get any meaningful exposure to Saxitoxins from it. Lobsters aren't filter feeders.

Why people persist in using a nearly meaningless word like word "shellfish" is beyond me... it's not like arthropods and mollusks are closely related or anything, so it just causes confusion to lump them together in an arbitrary category. My fiance is allergic to crustaceans, but because she thought she was allergic to "shellfish", she thought she'd have the same reaction to clams, scallops, mussels, and oysters. It's basicly the same thing here... arthropods don't eat or store red tide algae, but people are told "shellfish" can poison them.