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
(_c_) _The Pusher._--The next invention was the so-called "pusher." The
"pusher" consists of a wooden pole from 8 to 9 feet long, attached to
a rectangular iron frame 3 by 1½ feet, upon which is fitted a netting
bag 3 feet in depth. The scalloper, wading on the flats at low tide,
gathers the scallops by shoving the "pusher" among the eel grass. When
the bag is full, the contents are emptied into the dory and the process
repeated. The scallopers who use the "pusher" go in dories, which are
taken to the various parts of the scalloping ground and moved whenever
the immediate locality is exhausted. This method is in use to-day,
but is applicable only to shallow flats, and can be worked only at
low tide, where dredging is impossible. It is hard work, and not as
profitable as the better method of dredging. This method of scalloping
is used chiefly at Chatham, Dennis and Yarmouth; occasionally it is
used at Nantucket and other towns.
(_d_) _Dredging._--The greater part of the scallop catch is taken by
dredging, which is the most universal as well as the most profitable
method. The dredge, commonly pronounced "drudge," consists of an iron
framework about 3 by 1½ feet, with a netting bag attached, which will
hold from one to two bushels of scallops. Cat boats, carrying from 6 to
10 dredges, are used for this method of scalloping. These boats, with
several "reefs," cross the scallop grounds pulling the dredges, which
hold the boat steady in her course. A single run with all the dredges
overboard is called a "drift." The contents of all the dredges is said
to be the result or catch of the "drift."
When the dredges are hauled in they are emptied on what is known as
a culling board. This board runs the width of the boat, projecting
slightly on both sides. It is 3 feet wide, and has a guide 3 inches
high along each side, leaving the ends open. The scallops are then
separated from the rubbish, such as seaweed, shells, mud, etc., while
the refuse and seed scallops are thrown overboard by merely pushing
them off the end of the board. Each catch is culled out while the
dredges are being pulled along on the back "drift," and the board is
again clear for the next catch. The culled scallops are first put in
buckets and later transferred either to bushel bags or dumped into the
cockpit of the boat.
Two men are usually required to tend from 6 to 8 dredges in a large
cat boat, but often one man alone does all the work. This seems to be
confined to localities, as at Nantucket nearly all the cat boats have
two men. At Edgartown the reverse is true, one man to the boat, though
in power dredging two men are always used.
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