40 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



ing the physical conditions and destructive enemies of the clams, 

 the proposition remains that the clams continued to hold their 

 own in abundance along our shores until a comparatively recent 

 date. Though the chances of death of individuals are so great, na- 

 ture has provided an ample protection for the species in the tremen- 

 dous productivity of the clam. Were the chances against reaching 

 maturity millions to one (and they probably are), the eggs are laid 

 in sufficient abundance to offset them. 



But in recent years the clams have not held their own, and the 

 decrease is, without question, the direct result of the promiscuous, 

 unlimited, and unreasonable digging by man. There is no evidence 

 that the physical conditions or natural enemies have recently be- 

 come more destructive, nor can more than a small part of the re- 

 sponsibility be laid at the door of the manufacturers who allow 

 detrimental waste products to pour into the bay. The decrease is 

 quite as well, marked in regions where the water is good and where 

 clams, if left to themselves, thrive well. The decrease has been 

 assigned also to such causes as the wash of steamers which ply the 

 waters of the bay more frequently and more rapidly than in former 

 years, but the same answer applies to this suggestion, viz.: the 

 clams have decreased on shores which are not washed by the swell 

 of steamers. But where is the square yard of shore, known to con- 

 tain clams, which has not been dug over and over again, and all the 

 clams found, which were more than an inch and a half long, taken 

 out? Not only are all the clams of edible size taken, if discovered, 

 but the smaller ones are, many of them, buried deep or washed out 

 and left exposed to natural enemies. 



The practice of continually digging the shores is defended by 

 many clammers, on the ground that it is good for the clams or even 

 necessary to their growth, but our observations and experiments 

 argue against this proposition, except in rare cases where the set is 

 so exceedingly thick that the individuals actually crowd one an- 

 other. Time and again in experiments on a small scale, and in 

 some lai'ger experiments, like those at Kickemuit river and Wick- 



