62 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



with the small patches in Great Pond, comprise about 1 acre of good 

 quahaug ground, and are mostly dug by summer people. 



In the past twenty-five years there has been a great decline in the 

 quahaug industry, especially in Waquoit Bay, which to-day barely pro- 

 duces 50 bushels. A. Howard Clark states, in 1879 : * 



Quahaugs are plenty in Waquoit Bay, and are gathered and eaten by the 

 villagers, but none are shipped. It is estimated that about 500 bushels of 

 quahaugs are annually consumed by the people of Falmouth town. 



SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY. 

 Area of quahaug territory (acres), ....... 400 



Number of men, 



Number of boats, 



Value of boats, 



Number of dories, 



Value of dories, 



Value of implements, 



Production. 



"Little necks": 



Bushels, 10 



Value, $25 



Quahaugs: 



Bushels, 90 



Value, $90 



Total : 



Bushels, 100 



Value, v $115 



Harwich. 



The quahaug fishery of the town of Harwich is carried on in that 

 part of Pleasant Bay which lies within the town limits. In the 

 southern waters of the town, on the Sound side, scattering quahaugs 

 are found in certain localities, but are not of any commercial impor- 

 tance. The most important of those localities are off Dean's Creek 

 and in Herring River, where quahaugs are dug for home consumption. 



Harwich shares with Chatham and Orleans the quahaug fishery of 

 Pleasant Bay, but has a more limited territory, as only a small portion 

 of Pleasant Bay lies within the town limits. Practically all this terri- 

 tory, comprising 100 acres, is quahauging ground, though the com- 

 mercial quahauging is prosecuted over an area of 10 acres only. Scat- 

 tering quahaugs are found over an area of 100 acres. 



As the waters of Pleasant Bay are sheltered, the fishing is all done 

 from dories, with basket rakes having 20 to 25 foot poles. The depth 

 of water over the quahaug beds is from 6 to 16 feet. 



1 " The Fisheries of Massachusetts," United States Fish Commission Report, Section II., 

 p. 253. 



