CLAM FARMS — TURNER 



467 



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Figure 1. — Barnstable Harbor on Cape Cod, Mass., was the scene of the shellfish 



investigations. 



ing prices of clams and the general scarcity in the public digging 

 areas, saw an opportunity to enter into a new profitable venture and 

 applied for clam grants under the old law. They were numerous 

 enough to overcome the opposition, and several potential clam farms 

 sprang into being. In addition, the town of Barnstable, Mass., 

 granted a considerable area to the Woods Hole Oceanograpliic Insti- 

 tution as an experimental farm and the Institution initiated an exten- 

 sive investigation into the biology of the soft clam. 



Now, to operate a successful farm of any kind it is necessary to 

 know how to stock it with the desired species of animal or plant, 

 provide optimal conditions for survival and growth, and harvest the 

 crop in an economical manner. Several difiiculties presented them- 

 selves immediately to the clam farmers. The soft clam reproduces 

 by spawning either eggs or sperm directly into the water where fer- 

 tilization takes place. The eggs are microscopic in size and number 

 in the millions per individual spawner. Each fertilized egg develops 

 into a swimming larva that leads a precarious existence for about 

 2 weeks, drifting about in the currents. If it survives this period, it 



