Scallops love Disco (lights) – scientists make an accidental discovery

No, you aren’t having a midweek delusional breakdown. That was an intentional title, and this is not a joke – although it’s slightly humorous.

Scientists recently made a significant breakthrough in ethical fishing whilst discovering an oddly unique way to catch scallops. 

Marine scientist Dr Rob Enever and his team at Fishtek Marine designed small underwater “potlights” to help protect fish stocks by replacing the need to use fish to bait crab and lobster pots.

The lights were intended for the attention of crabs, but Dr Rob and his team were shocked to discover that scallops, which can have up to 200 eyes, were more attracted to the LED lights. “It’s like a scallop disco – illuminate the trap and they come in. It’s astonishing that no one else has discovered this before. It’s quite an exciting find,” Enever told The Guardian.

Scallops are traditionally caught using a process called dredging, which can significantly damage marine habitats when done on a large scale. Other alternatives, such as scuba divers hand-picking the scallops, are more costly and time-consuming.

Fisher Jon Ashworth, who was also involved in the experiment, told The Guardian: “Pretty much every pot that we hauled had scallops in them and yet every haul without lights had no scallops. It was conclusive, there and then. To have proof that lights can be used to catch scallops has got to have some awesome implications looking forward.”