ECOLOGY OF BUZZARDS BAY: An Estuarine Profile 13 



Wellfleet. its deep waters were attractive as a home 

 port to many whaling ships. Even at its height, how- 

 ever, Woods Hole was not nearly as important as 

 New Bedford to the whaling industry. Not only re- 

 gionally prominent. New Bedford was known as 

 the "Whaling Capital of the World" and the country's 

 greatest whaling port from 1 820 until the Civil War. 

 In 1845 alone, 150,000 barrels of sperm oil, 

 272,000 barrels of whale oil, and three million 

 pounds of whalebone were brought in by the 1 0,000 

 seamen on New Bedford ships (Fawsett 1 990). 



Coincident with the growth in whaling was a 

 growth in commercial fishing in Buzzards Bay, no- 

 tably for menhaden and mackerel (Scomber 

 scombrus) during spring and summer months. By 

 the late 1 800's commercial fishing and catch infor- 

 mation were entering the "modem" era with opera- 

 tions of the U.S. Fish Commission and advance- 

 ments in fishing technology. Buzzards Bay fisheries 

 have changed significantly, with Atlantic mackerel 

 (pre- 1 920) and scup {Stenotomus chrysos; post- 

 1 960) accounting for about half the total commer- 

 cial catch (Buzzards Bay Project 1987). 



In the early 1 900's weirs (fish traps) were used 

 along the shores of Buzzards Bay. The weirs were 

 used for catching species not typically caught by 

 draggers like bonito {Sarda sarda), scup, and but- 

 terfish (Peprilus triacanthus; Bowles and 

 Livingston 1 98 1 ). Weirs were made by sinking 

 numerous upright poles into the sediment and string- 

 ing them with netting, making a long, wide extended 

 opening to guide fish into the base or bowl of the 

 trap. After the disruption to industry as a result of 

 the Civil War, weir fishing began to grow in popu- 

 larity as it enabled many fishermen to work the lo- 

 cal shallow waters without the hazards of deep sea 

 fishing. Catch by weir fishing is generally quite vari- 

 able with no guarantee of marketable catch; how- 

 ever, many local fishermen during this period were 

 able to switch from deep sea to local waters with- 

 out serious loss in income (Fawsett 1 990). Also 

 during this time, attention turned toward the shal- 

 low shellfisheries, which provided a reliable source 

 of income with a smaller investment in equipment. 

 Lobstering and clamming grew in popularity along 

 with the seasonal scallop industry. 



With the growth of whaling and fishing came a 

 large increase in supporting maritime trade indus- 

 tries. Farming gave way to marine-based econo- 

 mies in towns like New Bedford, Woods Hole, 

 Fairhaven, and Padanaram (a village of Dartmouth), 

 and they experienced a surge in the growth of trades 

 to support the sea-based industry. Boat builders, 

 blacksmiths, coopers, sail makers, carpenters, and 

 so forth settled in these areas along with a large 

 number of unskilled laborers. However, the avail- 

 ability of kerosene in the 1 860's brought about a 

 swift decline in the whaling industry. Coincident with 

 this decline was the development of the cotton 

 manufacturing industry in the northeast, taking ad- 

 vantage of the availability of workers and water 

 power and shifting the major industry toward manu- 

 facturing (Fawsett 1 990). New Bedford and Fall 

 River, with their protected waters, proximity to off- 

 shore fishing grounds, and extensive growth, have 

 continued to be the industrial centers within the 

 Buzzards Bay watershed. Early this century large 

 urban populations forced New Bedford and adja- 

 cent Fairhaven to handle sewage through central- 

 ized wastewater treatment plants and to construct 

 outfalls into Buzzards Bay. Hence, the inner and 

 outer harbor regions of New Bedford represent the 

 major industrial and nutrient point sources of pollu- 

 tion for the entire bay, with most of the remainder 

 of the region having farming, light industry, and 

 nonpoint (septic) disposal of wastewater as the main 

 pollution concerns. This pattern continues today. 

 Historically, the primary toxic pollutants were from 

 textile (dyes), metal fabrication and jewelry (met- 

 als), and (more recently) electronics industries 

 (PCB's) (Camp, Dresser, and McKee, Inc. 1 990; 

 Terklaetal. 1990). 



1.3. Present Day 



The fishing industry continues to be an important 

 economic resource for Buzzards Bay. Although 

 commercial finfishing has been prohibited in the bay 

 since the late l 800's, a relatively large fishing fleet sup- 

 ported by ports such as New Bedford and Woods 

 Hole fishes George's Bank for Atlantic cod [Gadus 

 morhua), mackerel, haddock (Melanogrammus 



