high production of sea scallops in recent 

 years has introduced new marketing prob- 

 lems. Market research aimed at expanding 

 outlets for this highly nutritious and desir- 

 able seafood will be started during the early 

 years of this program. These investigations 



CLAMS 



STUDY OF THE RESOURCE— More information 



on the biology of clams is needed to manage 

 this important fishery successfully. Current 

 investigations are limited to resource studies 

 on the soft and hard clams conducted at 

 biological laboratories located at Boothbay 

 Harbor and Milford. Research programs are 

 carried out in close cooperation with State 

 governments. During the first year of this 

 program, the emphasis of the Region's bio- 

 logical investigations will be directed to the 

 little-studied surf clam resource. The first 

 phase of these new surf clam investigations 

 at the Oxford laboratory will include life 

 history, age, and growth studies. 



The program also provides for contin- 

 uation of basic research on hard clams, with 

 emphasis on artificial methods of producing 

 seed and mature clams. Basic laboratory 

 investigations will be carried on to develop 

 new and promising methods of selective 



will provide specific information on the fac- 

 tors affecting the market for this product. 

 Meanwhile the Bureau's marketing service 

 will continue its promotion of this highly 

 attractive product. 



breeding. 



DEVELOPING MORE EFFICIENT METHODS FOR 

 HARVESTING— Surf clam fishing will be thor- 

 oughly reviewed and studied during the first 

 year of this program. Information from these 

 investigations will provide clues for search- 

 ing new fishing areas and will pinpoint the 

 limits of this important resource. The pro- 

 gram for the future also includes research 

 aimed at increasing the efficiency of surf 

 clam fishing methods. 



INCREASING USE— Better methods of pre- 

 serving and processing will extend the pres- 

 ent market limits for clams and clam prod- 

 ucts. During the first year of this program, 

 studies will be made on new methods of 

 extending the keeping quality of clams. 

 These short-term studies should be success- 

 fully completed in a few years. 



BLUE CRABS 



PROCESSING STUDIES — The minimum wage- 

 hour law recently passed by the Congress 

 removed the exemption previously extended 

 to the blue crab processing industry. Increased 

 processing costs have resulted. The Act calls 

 for additional wage increases in 1964 and 

 1965. If the industry is to remain competi- 



tive in the wholesale and retail food market, 

 processing efficiencies must be adopted to 

 reduce the market price of blue crab meat. 



During the first year of the Region's 

 blue crab program, research will be under- 

 taken to improve the processing and handling 

 of blue crab meat. The immediate objectives 



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