The whelk was the other seafood of the Lowcountry coast, a late winter harvest when shrimping shut down. Tommy Edwards used to pull in three or four tractor-trailer loads per year.
The tough meat of the conch-like creature wasn't as popular here as the succulent clam or the party roast oyster. But it could be sold by the bushel up north, where whelks sometimes are served as scungilli in Italian dishes, often with a marinara sauce. It is sold by the can.
Even today, Edwards, a Shem Creek shellfisherman, can get $50 per bushel for whelks, he said – if he can find any. He can run trawl nets from his boat along the bottom all day long and not come back with a bushel.
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