Everything You Need to Know About Scallops

(A conversation with marine biologist Bryce Stewart)

For someone who's never thought about where their scallop comes from — what should they know first?

In the UK there are three ways scallops are caught. Most are dredged - steel devices dragged along the seabed that disturb everything in their path, catching things fishermen don't want: rays, sharks, starfish. Then there are divers, swimming along the seabed and picking by hand. And then there's the {most exciting} new kid on the block, scallop discos, where light is used to lure free-swimming scallops into pots. Very little seabed disturbance, minimal bycatch. A completely different philosophy.

How does a scallop actually live?

King scallops are hermaphrodites - they release both eggs and sperm, but with a half-hour delay so they don't fertilise themselves. Other scallops nearby sense the spawning and join in, and the larvae drift on ocean currents for about three weeks before settling on the seabed.

Here's the remarkable part: the oldest king scallop ever recorded was 22 years old. But in heavily dredged areas, most don't make it past two. In 1937, when scallop dredging began on the Isle of Man, more than half the scallops found were over ten years old. Go back to that exact spot today, and hardly any are above ten. That one comparison tells you almost everything about what industrial fishing has done.

Are UK scallop populations in trouble?

The honest answer is: we don't fully know, because we've never seen what a truly unfished population looks like. The closest we get is Marine Protected Areas and where proper protection exists, the results are striking. Scallop numbers in protected zones were found to be ten times higher than in fished areas.

The Bay of Seine in France offers a useful lesson. About twenty years ago they reduced fishing pressure and raised the minimum landing size. The result? Scallops became so abundant that boats now fish for just one hour a day, three times a week, and still meet their quota — with far less environmental damage in the process.

Does dredging deserve its bad reputation?

It's complicated. Dredging has undoubtedly changed seabeds - some of what's been lost could take a hundred years to recover. Sensitive habitats like maerl beds and pink sea fans simply shouldn't be dredged. Full stop.

But a complete ban tomorrow would be devastating for coastal communities. The more realistic path is transition - removing dredging from the most sensitive areas first, supporting innovation, and moving in the right direction. Think of it like the shift from petrol to electric cars. It won't happen overnight, but the direction of travel matters.

What makes scallop potting genuinely different?

The fishermen who do it best put serious time in, experimenting with locations, keeping lights well charged, building expertise. Dredging is forgiving because it covers large areas. Potting is precise. Each pot has a small circle of influence, so it demands more skill, more knowledge, more commitment, and that's actually a good thing.

Is there a best time of year to eat scallops?

Scallops are unlike other seafood in that they don't have super clear 'seasons'. There is a little bit of seasonality the roe — that orange or coral-coloured part — is at its biggest and ripest in winter and spring. it adds a bit of weight to the scallop. In France this is a prized part of the scallop, and demand peaks before Christmas, I think because it's a luxury food and treated as such. The meat itself is fairly consistent year-round, but if you want the full experience, with the roe, it's winter and spring.

Do hand-dived or pot-caught scallops actually taste better than dredged?

There's science to suggest they might. Research found that dredged scallops show elevated stress chemicals in their tissue for hours after being caught, and it's not hard to understand why. Imagine being dragged along the seabed in a net full of stones and shells, exhausting yourself trying to escape. Pot-caught scallops arrive calmly, they keep feeding under the light inside the pot until theyre hauled. Whether that translates to flavour is still being studied, but the logic is sound.

What would you change about how the UK manages scallop fisheries?

Spatial management- but smarter than blanket protected areas. Designate specific zones where fishing is permitted, rotate them every few years to allow recovery, and be clear with fishermen about the rules. It gives industry certainty and gives the seabed a chance. It's Simple in principle, but just needs the political will to do it.

In twenty years, what does a sustainable scallop industry look like?

'm optimistic, but cautiously so. We can't stop all dredging tomorrow without devastating the communities that depend on it. But scallop potting is a genuine innovation, and every new method, every step toward lower impact fishing, lays a foundation for the future. It's incremental, and it has to be. But the direction is right, and that's the key thing that matters.