THE ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF 



HARD CLAMS IN NANTUCKET SOUND, 



MASSACHUSETTS, 1958 



by 



John W. Ropes and Charles E. Martin 



ABSTRACT 



A survey was made during the summer of 1958 to assess the abundance 

 of hard clams, Venus (Mercenana) m e re enaria, in Nantucket Sound, Massa- 

 chusetts. A jet (hydraulic) dredge was used as the principal sampling gear. 

 Data from 214 sample stations compared withother Atlantic coast areas indi- 

 cated that the abundance of hard clams in Nantucket Sound was extremely low. 

 The survey revealed no new general areas of commercial abundance. No 

 clams less than 60 millimeters (2 3/8 inches) were caught. Because of 

 hydrographic conditions unfavorable for spawning and setting and because 

 there are few small clams to augment the present stocks, the future of this 

 fishery is uncertain. 



The Sixteenth Annual Report of the 

 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commis- 

 sion (1958) requested the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service to make a census of the hard clam 

 population in the Nantucket Sound area. 

 This request was presented by shellfish 

 industry members interested in knowing 

 the potential of the present hard clam 

 fishery in this area, where the catches 

 have been important in augmenting the 

 canners' supplies of large hard clams 

 obtained from the inshore areas of Mas- 

 sachusetts and Rhode Island. 



There has been a commercial fishery 

 for hard clanns or quahogs, Venus (Mercenana) 

 mercenaria, in Nantucket Sound for at least 50 

 years. Belding (1931) stated: "Tothenorth 

 of Nantucket in deep water extensive dredg- 

 ing was carried out between 1912 and 1915 

 over an area of several square miles which 

 was thickly set with large clams. After 

 several years' fishing this bed was prac- 

 tically exhausted." He also described 



dredges similar to the Fall River, Nan- 

 tucket, and rocker dredges used today. Mr. 

 Byron Blount of the Blount Seafood Cor- 

 poration has told us that this area has 

 been fished sporadically with Nantucket 

 dredges since 1940. It was not until 1956 

 that Captain Arnold Veek used a jet dredge 

 for the first time on these clam beds. The 

 increased yield and efficiency of the jet 

 dredge over other types explain the interest 

 in its continued use in this area where at 

 present, a fleet of five vessels use the 

 dredge. Practically all of the hard clams 

 caught by these vessels are larger than 90 

 millimeters (3 1/2 inches). The sizes are 

 highly uniform, even though the diameters 

 of the dredge bag rings vary from 2 to 

 3 1/2 inches. 



During the summer of 1958 a survey 

 was made to estimate the potential of the 

 hard clam resources of Nantucket Sound. 

 The purposes of this survey were (1) to 

 establish the location, abundance and size 



