On a January night, the mate’s watch on a scallop boat on Georges Bank comes on deck ready to haul back a pair of 15-foot dredges and begin the night’s work—dumping the dredges, picking the pile, and shucking as fast as they can. When it’s 20-foot seas and cold spray coming over the rail, it’s vital that the crew stay warm and comfortable, and gloves are a key part of that.
The hands are one of the most sensitive parts of the human body, particularly the fingertips packed with nerve endings. A good pair of scallop gloves has to be durable enough to withstand being part of a human bulldozer working through the pile, and flexible enough to handle scallops at high speed while shucking.
Stauffer Glove and Safety in Red Hill, Pennsylvania, has been in business for over 100 years and makes the industry standard, the Maritek 8951. This fully coated nitrile glove has a jersey liner and a knit wrist. Scallopers have been buying the Maritek 8951 by the dozen for decades.
Another industry favorite is Ansell’s nitrile ActivArmr Hycron 27-602, “a big tough glove for a rough tough life,” very similar to the Maritek 8951.
But the Showa 477 is gaining popularity as the new kid in the shucking house. The Netherlands-based company Showa makes a variety of Atlas gloves popular among fishermen, clammers, and processing plant workers. Still, the Showa 477 has the attributes needed to make it a good choice for scalloping. According to Showa, the 477 is designed to keep a fisherman’s hands warm and dry in the most extreme environments and combines thermal insulation with tactical grip. “Foam grip and a dual nitrile coating ensure precision in wet and oily environments, whilst the acrylic liner provides protection from cold weather. The 477 remains flexible down to -58°F,” says Showa.
The dual nitrile coating means the gloves can withstand clawing through sand and gravel and rolling rocks out of the way or over the side. At the same time, the foam lining keeps hands warm and provides a bit of cushioning for those tough jobs.
But the shucking house is where the Showa 477 shines. A scalloper stands at the shucking box for hours in a trance, shucking one scallop after another at amazing speed. Grabbing a scallop quickly and turning it white side up with the hinge facing the twisted scallop knife, a scalloper can usually shuck a scallop in two moves, cutting off the white shell and slicing the meat into his bucket. But any slippage in the process exacts a cost in time, and that can add up.
Many younger fishermen not accustomed to the older gloves are giving the Showa 477 a try.
