"Hold it tight! The scallops are coming up."
At 6 a.m. on the 29th, off Solseom in Goseong, South Gyeongsang. Captain Shin Chang-gyun of the Pung-eo called out to Dalit, a foreign crew member. When the crew member flashed an "OK" sign with his fingers, Shin threw a rope with a hook into the sea, then climbed onto the crane at the center of the hull. As the crane's boom shot upward, a "chaerong" (a basket net for aquaculture) submerged in the water was hoisted up at once. Inside the chaerong were scallops, flushed a reddish hue like a child's rosy cheeks, packed to the brim.
◇ the "scallop mecca" Goseong, recognized by the FDA
Goseong County in South Gyeongsang Province is the center of domestic scallop production. Annual output exceeds 8,000 tons (t), with about 75% of domestic scallops coming from here. It means three out of every four Korean scallops we eat are produced in Goseong.
According to South Gyeongsang Province, scallop production in the province did not even reach 200 t until 2013. The turning point came in the mid-2010s. Second-generation fishers who returned to the sea shifted attention from labor-intensive oyster farming to scallop aquaculture, and production surged.
Gu Eon-hoe, head of the Goseong County Fisheries Cooperative, said, "Oysters require a lot of work from spat collection to management, but for scallops, once you bring in the spat, you only need to replace the chaerong to match the growth period."
Goseong scallops began to be farmed around Jaran Bay in the early 2000s. Jaran Bay is a clean sea area recognized by the U.S. FDA, with gentle currents and abundant water temperature and nutrients, providing an environment suitable for scallop growth. This allows high-marketability scallops to be produced in a short period.
Scallops also have strengths in taste and nutrition. They have higher protein content than other seafood, and are rich in essential amino acids, including glutamine, helping skeletal formation in growing children and adolescents. They are also high in calcium and iron, which are good for bone health, and rich in selenium, an antioxidant that helps prevent aging and maintain skin elasticity. At about 80 kcal per 100 g, they are also suitable for diets.
◇ a symbol of abundance and beauty… even a "scallop war"
Scallops produced in Korea are red scallops and bay scallops. Most farmed scallops are red scallops, an introduced species that did not exist domestically before the 1990s. Bay scallops are produced in small quantities in parts of the East Sea coast, and a considerable amount is imported from Japan.
Scallops are known to lay more than 100 million eggs at a time, and are regarded as a symbol of abundance. It is no coincidence that Renaissance painter Botticelli set Venus atop a scallop in "The Birth of Venus." In China, because the flesh of scallops is tender, they are called "Xishi she" ("the tongue of Xishi").
In 2012 and 2018, French and British fishers clashed over scallop fishing rights in the English Channel, in what was called the "scallop war." The conflict over a small shellfish continues today in another form off Goseong.
◇ the scallop industry shaken by climate change
Loaded with chaerong, the Pung-eo moved to an offshore work site near Solseom wharf. At the site, crews were busy sorting scallops from chaerong hauled up the previous day. The scallops go through a metal sorter and are separated by size. Grades such as "large, medium, small" are assigned based on grooves of a set size.
Captain Shin said, "Goseong scallops are big and firm, so the taste is the best. But with climate change, the harvest is smaller than before, which is regrettable."
Climate change is in fact threatening fishers' livelihoods. Due to high water temperatures and oxygen shortages in the summer, about 30% of scallops died last year. The tallied damage alone amounts to 2.6 billion won. The scallop festival, usually held at the end of Oct., was canceled last year.
Gu said, "On top of climate change, the influx of Chinese scallops is making things very difficult for fishers. We hope consumption of Korean scallops raised in clean waters will increase."
◇ scallop basil pesto cheese bake recipe
1) Soak scallops in water with a pinch of salt for 30 minutes to purge sand.
2) Rinse in clean water, then separate one side of the shell.
3) Finely chop the basil.
4) In olive oil, mix chopped basil, minced garlic, and butter over low heat to make a creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
5) Spoon the basil sauce over the prepped scallops, then top generously with pizza cheese.
6) Bake in an oven or air fryer preheated to 180 degrees for about 10 minutes.