After enjoying some diver scallops at Chambar, I started thinking: what are diver scallops anyway? (other than delicious) Could they really be hand-collected? A little searching led me to an interview on ChefTalk.com with Maine’s Tim Hunt, a 20-year veteran scallop diver.

Tim explains that diver scallops really are collected by hand, in contrast to normal scallops, which are collected by fishing boats that sweep the sea floor, or are harvested in scallop farms. As a result, diver scallops tend to be less gritty, higher quality, and a lot more environmentally friendly. Scallop divers also get their product to market a lot faster than other methods, and tend so to be fresher.

Scallops can be collected at varying depths, typically 50-100 feet, and are often harvested in low visibility conditions, with only a few feet of visibility. A good diver will only collect the bigger ones, and will get 10-20lbs of scallops per tank of oxygen.

The key to scallop quality is water current, and the best scallops will be firm with no grit. In poor conditions, scallops will be soft and grainy.  The fishing season for scallops varies by location, but is all-year round if you get into international waters. The problem with off-season deep water scallops is that they are frequently gray, and treated with a solution for preservation for the trip back, which hurts their quality. The best scallops are in-season diver scallops.