Scallops growing in record numbers

Svein Tønseth
Photo: Jens Søraa

Scallops are considered one of the sea's foremost delicacies and, along with halibut, are marked as the new product the Norwegian aquaculture industry should concentrate on.

From the time the eggs hatch, scallops need four and a half years before they are a saleable food item. After one year, the breeding juveniles are taken out of the so-called "growth enclosure", cases with nets, and are placed near the sea floor, where the shellfish can later be harvested. This is currently carried out using divers.

In 1998 scallop juveniles were planted in quantities that will probably give Norwegian cultivators between 2.5 and three million saleable, cultivated scallops in the year 2001. Between 1.5 and two million of these scallops will come from Taroskjell, a firm based in Roan, Norway, and will pass through a specially equipped receiving station in Trondheim on their way to the market.

Intermediate warehouse in Trondheim

The newly established Norshell Limited runs the receiving station in Trondheim. It is a "buffer station" for the scallops, an intermediate warehouse that, at short notice, sends the shellfish to markets in Norway and overseas.

Scallops, mussels and other shellfish from the Trøndelag coast are transported to the warehouse. Between 80 and 90 percent of the Norwegian scallops sold today come from this area.

The shellfish are stored alive at the buffer station for up to two days, in tanks with good quality sea water, in anticipation of orders from wholesale seafood dealers, who are Norshell's customers. Norshell markets and sells the shellfish. The company owns 60% of the shares in five subsidiary companies that cultivate different types of shellfish. Among the companies is Taroskjell, which handles the harvesting and cultivation of scallops and is in charge of nearly 90% of the Norwegian scallop turnover.

By establishing the buffer station in Trondheim, Norshell began a research co-operation with SINTEF. Using facilities on land, the researchers will gauge how the water replacement cycle, water temperature and oxygen supplies influence the shellfish.

"We do this because we want to be sure that we use methods which, to the greatest possible extent, take care of the quality of the shellfish after we have harvested them from the sea," says Tron I. Kjønnø, who is responsible for sales and marketing at Norshell.