BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. — August 5, 2014 — For nearly as long as the Jersey Shore has been a vacation destination, there has been a desire by visitors to enjoy a "seashore dinner" in such places as Long Branch, Atlantic City, and Cape May.
It was like Christmas morning, solving a Rubik's cube, and the movie Groundhog Day all rolled into one as soon as the Grand Larson III docked at Viking Village.
A seven-man crew – the maximum allowed under strict government regulation – returned Wednesday from five days on the 80-foot steel-hulled trawler, which had gone to a managed scalloping area called the Delmarva, about 50 miles off the coast of New Jersey, and pulled 12,000 pounds of scallops from the deep.
Currently, boats like the Grand Larson III, licensed by the National Marine Fisheries Service, are permitted to harvest scallops in controlled growing areas only 15 days of the year, said Kirk O. Larson, the boat's owner, who is also the mayor of Barnegat Light.
"People wonder why seafood is so expensive . . . but it involves boats that cost lots of money to build and outfit, and $35,000 in diesel every time you go out," Larson said. "It's not an easy business."
While the boat was still at sea, each scallop was shucked and cut – by hand – before being stuffed into a muslin bag and cold-stored in the hold.
And then it was a race against the clock to get the precious bounty – scallops sell for about $25 a pound retail – to the dock so it could be officially weighed, packed in shaved ice, and distributed to various fishmongers, supermarkets, restaurants, and other outlets as far away as San Francisco within a matter of hours. Much of this particular batch was headed to the Great American Seafood Cook-off being held in New Orleans.
"It's like a big puzzle leading up to this moment. . . . So many factors go into it, good fisheries management, timing, a good crew, a good boat, regulations . . . everything," said the ship's captain, Kirk Larson Jr., as he directed the dockside "pack out" that had about a dozen people scurrying between the deck and the dimly lit, wet-floored receiving area. "And it's an in-demand commodity."
For nearly as long as the Jersey Shore has been a vacation destination, there has been a desire by visitors to enjoy a "seashore dinner" in such places as Long Branch, Atlantic City, and Cape May.
These days, whether a vacationer's plans include staying at a beach house and cooking a big fish feast for friends and family, or simply heading to a restaurant, most would agree that dining from the deep should be required eating at the Shore.
"The harvest is bountiful here. . . . It's part of the heritage of the Shore," says Ernie Panacek, general manager of Viking Village, who is in charge of scheduling and operating the "pack outs" for the boats in the marina's fleet.
Quality and consistency are achieved, according to Panacek, through strict state, national, and international regulations that have helped develop sustainability strategies.
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