OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



21 



(3) Production statistics alone should never be taken as typifying 

 the real conditions of an industry, as such figures are often extremely 

 deceiving. For instance : 



(4) The increased prices, stimulated by an increasing demand, have 

 caused a greater number of men, equipped with the best modern im- 

 plements, to swell the production by overworking shellfish areas which 

 in reality are not one-fourth so productive as they were ten years ago. 



While the general decline of the shellfisheries is a matter of public 

 knowledge, specific illustrations of this decline have been lacking. The 

 present report calls attention to actual facts as proofs of the decline 

 of each shellfishery, by a comparison of the present conditions in va- 

 rious localities with the conditions of 1879. The only past record of 

 Massachusetts shellfisheries of any importance is found in the report 

 of the United States Fish Commission for 1883, and, although this is 

 very limited, it is sufficient to furnish many examples of the extinction 

 or decline of the shellfisheries in certain localities. 



In a general consideration of the shellfisheries, it is noticeable that in 

 certain localities the extinction of the industry has been total, in others 

 only partial, while others have remained unchanged or have even im- 

 proved. This last class is found either where the natural advantages* 

 are so great that the resources have not been exploited, or where men 

 have, through wise laws and cultural methods (as in the oyster in- 

 dustry), preserved and built up the shellfisheries. 



1879 v. 1907. In comparing the present condition of the shell- 

 fisheries with that of 1879, it will be seen that many changes have taken 

 place. Even twenty-five years ago inroads were being made upon the 

 natural supply; from that time to the present can be traced a steady 

 decline. During the past five years the production has been augmented 

 by additional men, who have entered into the business under te at- 

 traction of higher prices, and the extension of the quahaug and oyster 

 fisheries. Though the annual catch is greater, a disproportionately 

 greater amount of time, labor and capital is required to secure an 

 equal quantity of shellfish. 



The following instances illustrate specific decline in the various nat- 

 ural shellfisheries : 



(1) Oyster industry, natural beds: Wareham, Marion, Bourne, Well- 

 fleet, Charles River. 



