Aug 26, 2009

Ron Boudreau and Rodney Fougere, of Sea Perfect Cultivated Products, are excited about scallops.  Kindred spirits, there.  I've been corresponding with Ron for a few years now off and on, having been introduced to him by Leslie-Anne Davidson of DFO, and having checked out his projects on spat collection and bottom fencing, via the literature.  What a treat to finally meet him and Rodney, and what a beautiful place to do it in.  If you have never been to Cape Breton, then make some time and go.  I imagine that it'd be breezy and bumpy in the wintertime, but on this August day, windy and grey overhead as it was, it's an idyllic setting. 

Ron Boudreau (left) and Rodney Fougère

Cape Breton's southwest shore is littered with islands and intervening waterways, and doubtlessly would make a great cruising destination.  Seemingly every back yard has a boat on stands, and the communities are like postcards; the villages seemingly lean down toward the waterfronts, hunching themselves under the wind. These are places where people are yet dependent upon one another, and the word 'community' still has real meaning. 

So, do yourself a favor, and make the trip some day.  You'll be glad you did; I was, and I didn't even have time to sit in a pub and listen to the music that the Cape is famous for!

Anyway.  There I was, and and up drives Rodney's father, just to make sure that I wasn't sitting there too long by myself, and to provide a little company since the boys are running a few minutes behind.  I told you the folks there are nice.  Then, Ron and Rodney drive up, we do introductions all around, and I say goodbye to Rodney's dad, who has to take off.

In we go to the space that the local fish plant lets them use. There is a big reservoir system for lobster, with a spat collector or two floating, a few lantern nets and some lobster crates with 3"+ scallops in them.  'So, do you want to try a scallop?' says Ron.  "Well, I'd love to eat about the whole box of 'em" say I, and they both laugh.  Out comes the knife, and before you can say Placopecten, I've eaten 6 or 7 meats - firm and sweet and absolutely delicious.  Ron tells me that on their site, scallops grow 2 inches a year, so these were stocked at about 1", after coming out of the collectors, and then grown for about 18 months.  The shells have a hard check at the point they came out of the collectors, then smooth thereafter, so they had a good life in the intervening time.  He says they put about 20 scallops per level of the lantern, and then never touch them again until harvest.  This is a pretty solid indicator of a good site. 

They also show me a scallop seed grader there in the shop, built in New Brunswick. It has a series of flat trays that travel a circular path, raising and lowering in and out of a water bath.  Half the trays trays have holes for undesirable shellfish to fall through (mussels and rock borers, mostly), the other half have bars spaced closely together to allow the scallops to fall through sideways.  They can grade out 3 sizes of scallops with this, and it works like a house afire.  We did not discuss price of the machine, but the scallops that come out of the grading process are as nice and clean as can be, and uniformly sized.

Seed grader in the shop; with holding tank and feeder on the left side of the grader

Top view of the moving table in the grader.  Scallops are graded via the bars (by thickness) and the other shellfish are sorted out through the panels with holes.  Works great - this was a smaller version of the grader I'd see in the Magdalenes later in the summer. 

Off then we went to their waterfront workshop across the harbor, just behind their site.  There, they had a grader for mature scallops, which can produce 7 different size grades.  The tube is made of SDR pipe with holes cut into it, and the whole shebang driven by a small electric motor.  They say that 7 grades is too many, and that 3 is better, so they combine some of the grades together. 

Drum grader for mature scallops.

Their site, which is nearly a stone's throw close to the shore, deep in a sheltered cove, is 70 feet deep, and their collectors and growout gear are held at about 40 feet, to reduce fouling.  They've tried a bunch of different things; lanterns, pearl nets, Savory cages, homemade designs, Mexican trays, and they are convinced that a biggish plastic tray is the answer, to reduce labor and to increase efficiency in growth.  A plan is cooking to develop a mold that will fill the bill.  

Meantime, they produce seed at an amazing rate, since they average 10,000 spat per collector, and they've got at least 4,000 collectors out there.  Having had some trials and errors in their past (and who hasn't?), they are quite optimistic about the future, both for seed sales and for growout.  Most of their seed now goes to St. Pierre and Miquelon, but they've got some customers in the Maritimes as well.  Recognizing that seed and growout are two vastly different operations and businesses, they're looking forward to progress on both fronts.  Ten years of experiences so far, and they are more enthusiastic than ever.  Bravo, Gentlemen, bon travail et bon chance!