Quite a Catch

Amid yesterday's  chatting, laughing, sunbathing, walking, and eating Jean and I and Janice also did something educational.  We went on a tour of Fisherman's Wharf here in Cape May and saw how seafood is unloaded from the fishing boats and packed up and sent out for delivery to seafood distributors.  

Out at sea the scallop shells are dredged up from the ocean floor and shucked from their shells.  The scallops are packed into big cheesecloth bags and stored in ice until the ship gets back home and docks at Fisherman's Wharf.  The bags of scallops are hauled up from the ship in bIg white plastic buckets and dumped on a steel table. Each bag is weighed and then transferred to a big tall cardboard box. When it is full it is sealed and ready to be shipped out.  

It is an impressive operation with strong burly guys shoveling ice and hefting heavy bags.  But the man with the most important job makes little noise or movement.  He's the guy near the scales holding the clipboard, recording the weight of the haul and how much the fishermen will be paid.

We topped off our tour by eating some freshly caught scallops for lunch. Yum!