Ode to the Day Boat Scallopers
Words by Aaron Wood
Like all maritime trades of the Cape, day boat scallopers are stitched from a special cloth. The work demands a willingness to push off oceanward with the knowledge and physical fortitude to soon return home with product in tow, no preservatives or excess ice chests to extend their shelf life. The process is laborious—every hand-sized shell dredged from the ocean floor, sorted, cleaned and shucked before returning to port, sometimes a hundred miles from shore. From there, the scallops must be packaged with an expeditious spirit to ensure buyers receive the freshest product possible. Once caramelized and glistening with butter, most diners are too distracted by the aroma of one of life’s most stirring culinary pleasures to consider their origin.
Fourth-generation Cape Cod captain Jesse Rose takes great pride in that notion—that he and his team can grind on all gears to provide familiar faces at the dock with the very best in shellfish. “There’s nothing like what the ocean provides us, and we take great pride in that,” he says. Their team is a tight-knit unit comprised of veteran fisherman and their collective families. Each day, they grind to serve the hardworking citizenry with a premium product from their backyard, unifying the people around a place—a place to take pride in.
