On Monday morning, Jon and Darlene Semlear were shucking through five bushels of bay scallops. They deftly separated the shells, removed the muscle to reveal white, slightly golden morsels of scallop meat, quickly — and carefully — cut the precious jewels from their shells and put them into a cool bowl.
Standing in their New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approved processing studio at their Pine Neck Avenue home in Noyac, the bayman and Southampton Town Trustee lamented the impact algae blooms and Hurricane Sandy had on what was expected to be a banner bay scallop year.
At the same time, Semlear noted the harvest, while mediocre, has proven nowhere near as devastating as originally feared, although there are still parts of the Peconic Estuary once teaming with juvenile scallops, now filled with empty, dead shells.
The bay scallop season, a celebrated event for most East End residents, began on November 5. However, facing a scallop die-off most believe was caused by algae blooms and hampered by Hurricane Sandy followed by a nor’easter a week later, it was only this week that the fall bay scallop truly began as the DEC reopened many of the waters in East Hampton and Southampton towns for shellfishing after almost a two-week ban.
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