The Story
We call Digby
"The Scallop Capital of the World".
We should stand by our words.
Rick Foote, Digby Town Councillor
Who, what, when and why?
Who thought of it?
When? Why.
Who is involved in the design?
Who is going to do the fabrication?
How is it going to be built? - materials? transport?
ow long is it going to take?
Where is it planned?
10,000 (?)
Visitors /yr
Creating a unique photo opportunity
? tons of
materials
Making an unforgetable experience
? people involved
Showcasing Digby as an outstanding vacation destination
Snapshots of Progress
Follow Our Journey of Inspiration
Some scalloping history
Digby fisherman Captain Roland Wormell is credited with pioneering the first efforts to harvest scallops commercially. With a borrowed hand-rake drag from a blacksmith in Chester, Captain Wormell and associate W.W. Hayden landed 13 scallops on their first attempt.
John W. Hayden joined the enterprising fishermen and, with two drags built by Digby blacksmith A.J. Trohon/Trahon (patented June 28, 1927 by Captain Wormell and called the Digby Scallop Rake), the trio harvested a whopping six hundred scallops – which then posed a marketing problem.
With local fish wholesalers hesitant to handle an unknown product, Captain James Ellis urged the fishermen, in 1922, to ship 55 pounds in wooden kegs to Gloucester, Massachusetts, on a trial basis. With a return of $2.50 a U.S. gallon (equal to nine pounds of scallops), interest in a commercial scallop fishery rapidly grew, leading to a Digby scallop fleet that once numbered more than a hundred vessels.
In the 1950s scallop fishermen received forty cents a pound at dockside; by 1970 Digby fishermen landed $500,000 in scallops, making it the town’s principal industry.
Credit: The Admiral Digby Museum