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
Quahaugs are found in all parts of Wellfleet Bay except in a
small spot near the wharves, called the "Deep Hole," and a
similar one on the west side of the bay. Both of these places
are covered with a thick, soft mud. It is not usual, however,
to fish in parts of the bay where the average depth at low
water exceeds 8 feet. Most of the raking is done on the western
side. In ordinary years, quahaug raking is begun the last of
March and continues until the first of October. As a general
thing, no raking is done through the winter months, although
in some years a small amount has been done through holes cut
in the ice. The fishermen rake about four tides per week,
beginning at half-ebb and raking to half-flood. The boats used
are either cat boats or yawls rigged with two sails. Each boat
carries 1 man. The rake employed at Wellfleet is described
by Mr. True as similar in form to an oyster rake, but made of
steel instead of iron. In former days this instrument was of
iron, the tips of the teeth only being of steel. An average
rake has seventeen teeth, and weighs about 12 pounds. The
handle or tail is of wood, and is about 23 feet long. The
baskets in which the quahaugs are collected and measured are
of ordinary manufacture, and hold about a bushel each; and the
whole outfit of a quahaug fisherman does not cost over $150,
and the total amount of capital invested in apparatus at the
present time in Wellfleet does not exceed $800. This amount is
about evenly divided between 5 men, none of whom are engaged in
this fishery more than a part of their time.
Quahaugs are sent to market always in the shell, and packed
in second-hand flour or sugar barrels. The wholesale price
of quahaugs for many years averaged 60 cents per bushel, but
in 1879 it fell to 55 cents. One dollar and seventy-five
cents is the average wholesale price per barrel. Quahaugs
retail in Wellfleet at 80 cents per bushel. The usual method
of transportation is by packet, at a cost of 25 cents per
barrel.[9]
COMPARISON OF 1879 WITH 1907.
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