Updated
The channel whelk, a shellfish Islanders refer to as conch, is not sold at any of the Vineyard’s retail fish markets, and is served in exceedingly few restaurants, yet it is the the Island’s largest and most valuable fishery product, according to Story Reed, a fisheries analyst for the state.
Oysters come in a close second, Mr. Reed said.
Far from the delicate texture of oysters, the rubbery meat of channel whelks isn’t easy to work with. Chef Deon Thomas isn’t fazed by this. He has served channel whelk in fritters and soup in Chef Deon’s Kitchen, his Oak Bluffs restaurant, for years. In a series titled “The Spirit and the Stove” that aired episode 1 on June 16 on MVTV, Chef Deon showed local television viewers that there are many ways to serve what he calls an underappreciated shellfish.
The four-part series, shot in MVTV’s new studio kitchen, showcases a variety of channel whelk recipes, including cracked conch, conch salad, sautéed conch, conch cakes, conch soup, jerk conch with biscuits, Menemsha conch crepes, and conch rolls.
Chef Deon is doubling down on channel whelk with a cookbook, titled “Martha’s Vineyard Conch Cookery,” that’s slated to be published July 15. He told The Times that photographer Randi Baird and artist Emma Young are collaborating with him on the book.
The channel whelk resembles a huge snail with an elongated shell. According to Steve Wilcox, an aquatic biologist for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, unlike the Caribbean conch, the channel whelk is a predator that falls into an ecological niche similar to lobsters. He said the peak year for harvest of the shellfish in the state was 2012, and that a decline in whelk harvest volume since then may be due to a bigger size limit fisherman suggested be imposed on the fishery. That limit is measured with a 2⅞ inch diameter metal gauge called a chute. The minimum shell size is 3⅛ inches. A whelk shell oriented from one angle might not pass through the chute, oriented another way it may. A whelk that is able to pass through the chute by any angle is too small to be legally harvested. Mr. Wilcox said the state is currently in the process of assessing the vitality of the channel whelk fishery.
Alec Gale, owner of the Menemsha Fish House, a wholesale seafood company on Squid Row in Menemsha, said almost all the channel whelk he sells heads to Boston’s or New York’s Chinatowns, or to Asia. A representative for Aqua Food Products Corp., a major distributor of channel whelk in New York City, told The Times that much of their product goes to Asia, but a trickle makes its way to Little Italy in Manhattan, where a diminishing market exists. Danny Chan of Aqua World Seafood Corp., a Vineyard Haven channel whelk dealer that also primarily sells in New York, Boston, and Asian markets, said channel whelk used to be substituted in New York restaurants for abalone, but the tables have turned. With abalone now farmed and therefore cheaper, and whelk prices escalating, abalone is being substituted for whelk. He said he wholesales channel whelk at $3 and change, but business seems rocky right now. “This year is very tough for everyone in the industry,” he said.
Mr. Chan said his business is down 50 to 60 percent. He said one of the main factors is price. Over the years he’s seen the wholesale price for channel whelk more than triple. Channel whelk is sold with its shell. He said every 2.5 pounds of shell yields 1 pound of meat. He noted that approximately 10 pounds of unshelled whelk is required to make many meal portions. He said this potentially translates to upwards of $30 at wholesale cost for one whelk plate. Since neither the export or domestic markets deem channel whelk a luxury food, he called that per-plate estimate not only a lofty sum, but an unsustainable one. Mr. Chan said he enjoys whelk himself. He uses a pressure cooker to tenderize the meat before he prepares a dish with it. Pan-fried whelk and whelk with pasta and red sauce are among his favorites.
Glenn Pachico, a third-generation fisherman and the proprietor of John’s Fish Market in Vineyard Haven, owns his own whelk permit. He doesn’t carry unprepared channel whelk, but he does smoke it and sell it in cakes similar to fritters.
“We grew up eating it as kids,” he said. He said his father used to serve it in a cold salad called scungille. Mr. Pachico sells this type of salad for $6.50 a half-pound. He retails his cod cakes for a dollar each, or 6 for $5. He said there’s been an uptick in folks asking about channel whelk, and he’s working to cater to them by experimenting with new recipes and sauces.
Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Trust director Shelley Edmundson, a longtime channel whelk researcher, told The Times she believes the local misnomer “conch” is derived from the Caribbean queen conch. She said the queen conch fishery preceded the New England whelk fishery, and that fishermen appear to have co-opted the name.
Updated to expand on the chute gauge implementation