214 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



at exportation. Fifteen to twenty years ago clams were everywhere 

 much more abundant in this region than now, and in those days some 

 market digging was carried on. At present the needs of the home 

 market are with difficulty supplied from the local production, and 100 

 bushels per year would cover all clams dug both for food and bait. No 

 effort has at any time been made by the town authorities to increase the 

 industry, though the clam fishery, at least in the sheltered coves of 

 Pamet River, is not without possibilities of development. 



Summary of Industry. 



Number of men, .......... 1 



Capital invested, $2 



Production, 1907: — * 



Bushels, ........... 50 



Value, $60 



Total area (acres) : — 



Sand, 50 



Mud, 



Gravel, - 



Mussels and eel grass, ........ 



Total, 50 



Productive area (acres) : — 



Good clamming, .......... 1 



Scattering clams, 2 



Barren area possibly productive (acres), ....... 47 



Waste barren area (acres), ........ - 



Possible normal production, $5,000 



Provincetown. 



For the last five years the flats of Provincetown have produced only 

 a small amount of clams. Wherever clams have set in abundance they 

 have been quickly dug by fishermen for bait, thus checking their natural 

 propagation. 



Clams are found in the drains among the thatch beds on the south- 

 west side of the harbor and in Race Run, while a considerable set is 

 scattered between the wharves of the town. All the extensive flats at 

 the southwest end of the harbor are entirely barren of clams, owing 

 chiefly to the shifting nature of the sand, although on certain parts of 

 these, especially near the thatch, clams would grow if planted. As it 

 is, the shifting sand makes it impossible for the young clams to set 

 on this area. 



Summary of Industry. 



Number of men, .......... 5 



Capital invested, $15 



Production, 1907 : — 



Bushels, 400 



Value, $320 



