174 



BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 



THE SCALLOP INDUSTRY 



The scallop fishery in North Carolina has been chiefly confined to 

 Carteret County, in both Bogue and Core sounds, A limited number of 

 scallops are gathered in the vicinity of Ocracoke and Hatteras. The industry 

 at present represents but a mere vestige of a once important fishery in North 

 Carolina. In 1928 North Carolina marketed more pounds of bay scallops 

 than any other state. After the disappearance of eelgrass from the area 

 during the early 1930's and following the hurricane of 1933, the production 

 dropped from a total of 686,220 pounds of meats valued at $37,960 during 

 1929 to 91,458 pounds for 1934 valued at $6,560. 



HISTORY. The scallop industry first developed at Beaufort, which was 

 then a popular summer resort, reaching its height about i860. The first 

 shipments of scallop meats were made about 1870 by Mr. George N. Ives 

 from Connecticut who started to ship the meats by rail from North Carolina 

 to northern markets. The height of this shipping was reached about 1876-77 

 when several thousand gallons of meats were shipped to the northern 

 markets. Marketing of scallops was temporarily curtailed when a southeast 

 gale in August of 1879 destroyed many scallops. 



Shortly after 1880 Mr. J. H. Potter of Beaufort began shipping scallops 

 to the New York markets. After 19 10 the industry became firmly estab- 

 lished and well organized. The road building programs led to the develop- 

 ment of shipping points along Core Sound at Marshallberg, Atlantic, and 

 other points. 



In 19 18 the scallop industry was described as one of the leading shellfish 

 industries of the State. Production increased steadily until 1928, when 

 nearly 1,400,000 pounds of meats were harvested from North Carolina. 



The bulk of the shipments about 1928 were made to New York and 

 Boston and small quantities were shipped within the State. The competition 

 from other scallop-producing areas affected the price locally, and conversely 

 the production from this area of North Carolina was great enough to affect 

 the market prices in New York and Boston. 



Table 7 shows scallop production from North Carolina, as determined 

 from statistics compiled by the Federal Government. In the decade 19 18 to 

 1928 production of scallops increased more than threefold. The reason for 

 this is not certain; probably several factors are responsible. Increased 

 fishing intensity undoubtedly resulted in greater production, and was prob- 

 ably stimulated by the economic condition of the country with increased 

 demand. The typhoid epidemic of 1924 nearly ruined the oyster industry, 

 and potential oyster consumers may have turned to other fishery products 

 such as scallops. The production for 1929 and 1930 dropped to the level, of 

 1 9 18. This decline was probably due to the unusually cold weather that 



