74 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVAL SERYICE 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



partially, of the very poor water circulation. How often they are turned depends on 

 circumstances; but, as a considerable growth of algge and much sediment was seen 

 in some of the trays which had not been recently disturbed, probably once a week 

 would be the maximum. The trays are said to be scrubbed and dried 

 at intervals, and one was seen undergoing the process. It was pointed out that the 

 fork with its chisel-pointed tines, used in turning the clams, may do more or less 

 damage to the mantle, protruding siphons, or edges of the valves, but a close inspection 

 of the material sent to the station for study does not bear out this view, though chipped 

 valves were found in a few cases. 



MATERIAL AND ITS SOURCES. 



The clams thus stored are of one species, Venus mercenaria L., the short-necked 

 or round clam, or quahaug. It occurs on the gulf shores of New Brunswick and Prince 

 Edward Island, chiefly on mi^ed sand and clay bottoms and at the level of 1 to ."> 

 fathoms below low tide, but its distribution is local, not general, determined by 

 bottom conditions and influences not understood. Though common on some parts of 

 the New England coast south of cape Cod, it does not seem to occur in the Bay of 

 Eundy nor on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, excluded therefrom doubtless by the 

 colder Arctic waters. 



The fishery begins in May, extends to the end of June, and reopens in September, 

 the two intervening months, it is believed, covering the period of spawning; but much 

 remains yet to be learned, not only as regards the length of the reproductive season, 

 but of those occult influences which determine the peculiar distribvition of the bivalve. 

 All its known beds are for many months covered, more or less, with ice, the tempera- 

 ture falls, and the clam buries itseK in the muds, ceases to feed, and necessarily falls 

 off in condition. Just when it emerges from this dormant state and begins to feed 

 is not definitely known, but is supposed to be about the first of May; yet much must 

 depend on weather conditions and the time the ice disappears, for some springs, like 

 that of 1914, are colder and later than usual. Those clams raked in May, then, are 

 likely to be inferior in quality, to be lacking in the vigour and the vitality of later 

 catches, especially those of October, and are not likely to stand storage and shipping 

 conditions as well. The transfer from cold sea-water of average salinity to the 

 warmer river estuary, fresher at that time than at any other time of the year, perhaps, 

 must tax the animal's powers of resistance to a dangerous degree. It would seem 

 that the early May catch is the largest of the season, for the more remunerative 

 salmon and lobster fisheries are then scarcely under way, and many fishermen are 

 free to rake the clam beds for a time. These large May receipts are stored and kept 

 under the conditions described for some weeks, in some cases two months; and it is 

 somewhat suggestive that most of the shipments to Chicago and New York going 

 bad were either all May fish or were made up in part of that catch. It might be 

 fruitful of good results to this fishery if this were made the subject of a special 

 inquiry. It must be borne in mind, too, that preparation for reproduction and the 

 process itself tax the vigour and vitality of the animal; and development of the 

 generative organs and their elements to a healthy, ripe stage, may depend on recupera- 

 tion after the trying season of dormancy. Before this is possible, however, the clams 

 are raked, confined, and the natural food supply cut off; an arrest of growth and 

 functional activity ensue, which may seriously affect the health of the clam. 



The stock shipped from Buctouche is obtained from beds in the vicinity; from 

 Cocagne, 12 or 15 miles distant; and from Percival and Gulf bays. Prince Edward 

 Island. It is conveyed to the storage grounds in small vessels, the clams being in 

 bags, piled up in the holds or on deck, and from two to four days are required for the 

 passage from the farthest points. 



