PUBLIC DOCUMENT No. 25. 31 



Mollusl- Fisheries. 



A report upon practical clam culture after several years' work 

 is now completed and ready for publication. Further investi- 

 gations have been carried on in regard to food of the marine 

 mollusca, and the various improvements in the shellfish indus- 

 tries have been followed during the past three years. 



Quahaug. The most important recent development in the 

 shell fisheries of Massachusetts has been the exploitation of a 

 large quahaug bed in Nantucket Sound. This productive area 

 was discovered by the fishermen, who noticed quahaugs in their 

 otter trawls. A small portion of the bed lies within the three- 

 mile radius of Nantucket, but the greater part, covering many 

 square miles, extends northerly and westerly. Its situation, 

 practically outside of the three-mile limit, permits boats from 

 other States to engage in the fishery, much to the detriment 

 of local interests, as large dredgers from Rhode Island and 

 Connecticut carry away many thousand bushels. Excellent 

 catches, mostly medium and large quahaugs, are taken with 

 dredges similar to the type used in the sea clam fishery. The 

 boats for the most part are operated by gasolene power, which 

 is also employed in hauling the dredges. From Nantucket and 

 Edgartown the quahaugs are shipped to the Boston and New 

 York markets, where the direct result of a greatly increased 

 supply has caused a considerable reduction in price. Never- 

 theless, this veritable bonanza has yielded great profits to the 

 quahaug fishermen. 



Although apparently inexhaustible, within a few years this 

 extensive bed will be depleted, owing to the destructiveness of 

 the present style of fishing. The results are forgotten in the 

 entirely probable expectation of finding other beds of similar 

 nature, and such areas, when opened for fishing, should form 

 important acquisitions to our shellfisheries. It is sincerely to 

 be regretted that adequate methods of distribution have not 

 been developed, or, in the absence of such, that there should 

 be no definite method of regulating fishing in these waters, 

 since the territory is situated without the three-mile limit, and 

 therefore does not come under the jurisdiction of the State. If 

 regulation were possible, in view of the overstocked market it 

 might be advisable to put a limit on the daily catch, in order 



