The town laws which benefit the scallop industry are made each year according to the condition of the industry. Edgartown and Nantucket have perhaps the best-governed scallop industries. Laws requiring licenses, regulating the opening of the season and restricting at proper times the catch, so as to get the best market prices instead of overstocking the market when the prices are low, are to be recommended on account of their benefit to the scallopers. _History._ In considering the rise of a fishing industry, it is often difficult to state exactly the year when the industry started, as there are differences of opinion as to how large a fishery should be before it could be justly considered an industry. The scallop fishery has existed for years, but did not become an established industry of the State before the year 1872. At that time there was hardly any demand for scallops, and the catch was with difficulty marketed. Since then the market demand for the scallop has steadily increased, until the supply can hardly meet the popular demand. It seems almost incredible that the scallop as an article of food should once have been scorned and practically unknown. During the years of 1876 and 1877 the industry took a sudden spurt. At this time the introduction of the dredge on Cape Cod revolutionized the industry, and made it possible to open up the deep-water fields. The industry on Cape Cod first started at Hyannis, where a number of men entered the new business; and for several years the production increased rapidly, with the opening of new territories and improved methods of capture. While the natural supply has remained the same or declined in certain localities, as has been shown in a previous part of this report, the value of the industry, in regard to the number of men engaged and capital invested, has steadily increased. SCALLOP PRODUCTION FOR MASSACHUSETTS.[12] ===================================================================== YEAR. | Bushels. | Value. | Gallons. | Price | | | | per Gallon. -------------------+-----------+----------+-----------+-------------- 1879, | 10,542 | $3,514 | 7,028 | $0.50 1887, | 41,964 | 38,933 | 27,976 | 1.39 1888, | 26,168 | 43,202 | 17,446 | 2.48 1898, | 128,863 | 85,383 | 85,908 | 0.99 1902, | 66,150 | 89,982 | 44,100 | 2.04 1905, | 43,872 | 98,712 | 29,248 | 3.37½ ===================================================================== These figures show that the price of scallops varies greatly, dependent largely upon the amount caught that season; also that there has been, in spite of the irregularity of the catch, a gradual rise in prices since 1879, due to a more extensive market.