Spoots

Forecast was for early rain and clearing later. However, it remained dry and relatively mild for most of the morning before the rain set in. Spent some time trying to get a decent blip of a Great Tit, but they are very twitchy and never stand still for a second. They will have to wait for another day.

While having breakfast I noticed a couple of small fishing boats heading for the end of the bay in front of our house. The boats usually have a couple of divers who search for Spoots or Razor Clams, as they are more widely referred to, on the sea bed. The Spoots have a very strong foot at the base of the shell, which makes them difficult to lift out. To overcome this, fishermen have developed a method using electrodes connected to a generator on the boat. The electrodes are trailed over the sea bed causing the Spoots to come to the surface where they are caught. Unfortunately, this method is illegal as the authorities have concerns about the safety of fishermen and possible harm to other marine life.

Some fishermen in Scotland are of the view that the electrical current through the sea bed simply concentrates the salinity in this area, which attracts Spoots to the surface. The fact that increased salinity attracts Spoots is well documented and a video showing how to catch Spoots on a Spring Tide can be seen here. I must give this a go sometime, although I should not forget that the only time I had Razor Clams before, at a well known Glasgow Restaurant, I had a bad bout of food poisoning!

Right off to try and find a good recipe for the Pigeon breasts I am cooking tomorrow night. #2 son and his girlfriend will be arriving this evening and we are looking forward to seeing them. Hope you all have a good weekend.