A Report upon the Mollusk Fisheries of MassachusettsMassachusetts. Commissioners on Fisheries and Game
Science
A Report upon the Mollusk Fisheries of Massachusetts
Massachusetts. Commissioners on Fisheries and Game
Shellfish fisheries -- Massachusetts
In making the survey of the clam areas, records were made of: (1)
soil; (2) food (_a_) in water, (_b_) on surface of soil; (3) rate of
currents; (4) abundance of clams and localities of set; (5) barren
flats that can be made productive. In the present report only the kind
of soil, abundance of clams and area of barren flats will be given, the
food problem being reserved for later publication.
_Summary._--In the following summary the seacoast towns are arranged
in geographical order from north to south. The number of men includes
both regular and intermittent clammers who dig for the market; all
others are excluded. In determining the production of any town it
is impossible to obtain exactly correct figures, as the amount dug
for home consumption is an unestimable quantity, and the clams are
marketed in a number of ways, rendering it almost impossible to get
complete statistics. The production statistics have been obtained in
a variety of ways, and the final estimates have resulted from careful
consideration of all facts. The invested capital includes the clammer's
outfit and boat, but does not include personal apparel, such as boots
and oil skins.
The clam flats are divided into two main divisions: (1) productive; and
(2) barren. The barren areas are those where at present no clams grow
at all, not even scattering; and areas yielding even a few clams are
still considered productive flats, though to all practical purposes
barren. It was necessary to make the division thus, as otherwise no
decisive line could be drawn. The barren flats are divided into those
sections that can be made productive and those that can never be made
to grow clams. The productive flats, on the other hand, are divided
into areas of good clamming and areas of scattering clams which do not
support a commercial fishery. The normal production of the clam flats
has been carefully estimated, in view of the previous experiments of
the Fish and Game Commission, and the different classes of flats have
each been given a certain valuation in computing the total for each
town. The areas given of the clam flats are based upon calculations, as
no engineering survey was made.
The price of clams varies in different localities, and chiefly depends
upon the quality of clams and the method of marketing. In certain towns
clams are "shucked" (removed from the shell),--a process which greatly
increases their market value; while in other places they are sold only
in the shell. These two facts account for the apparent variation in the
value of the production in different localities, as each town is given
its own market price.
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