OF MASSACHUSETTS. Ill 



are not only protected in case of severe winter, but produce a larger 

 scallop the following year. This is the only attempt at protecting 

 the scallop ever made in Massachusetts, and shows how important the 

 industry is to the town. 



For the two seasons previous to 1907-08 every scalloper was required 

 to have a license. In 1905-06 the price was 50 cents, while the follow- 

 ing year, 1906-07, 190 licenses, costing $1 each, were taken out. No 

 licenses were required in 1907-08. Special by-laws, either limiting 

 the catch or enforcing a close season to meet the demands of the fishery, 

 are made by the town each year. 



Scallops have been always plentiful, but fifty-five years ago they 

 were not caught, as they were considered poisonous. The present in- 

 dustry started in 1883, and since that time, in spite of its ups and 

 downs, it has remained a constant source of revenue to the island. 

 Notwithstanding a scarcity of scallops, the high prices of 1905-06 

 enabled the fishermen to have a fairly successful season. Both the 

 1906-07 and the 1907-08 seasons have been very prosperous, as scal- 

 lops have been plentiful. 



New Bedford. 



The scallop industry at New Bedford has been in existence since 

 about 1870, and has furnished a livelihood for an average of 15 men 

 ever since. Of late years the industry has shown a marked decline. 



In 1879 A. Howard Clark says:- 



Scallops are plentiful in the Acushnet River, and large quantities are 

 taken with dredges from October through the winter. The business of late 

 years has greatly increased. 



About the same time Ernest Ingersoll also writes : 



In the Acushnet River and all along the western shore of Buzzards Bay 

 these little mollusks abound, and their catching has come to be of con- 

 siderable importance in that locality. Mr. W. A. Wilcox, who sends me 

 notes on the subject, says that it is only eighteen years ago that a fisher- 

 man of Fairhaven (opposite New Bedford) was unable to sell 5 gallons 

 that he had caught. But the taste has been acquired, and a local market 

 has grown up to important proportions, so that in 1880 14 men and 10 

 small boats (dories) were dredging for scallops in Buzzards Bay from 

 the middle of October to the middle of January. Mr. Wilcox says : " These 

 small boats will take from 10 to 75 bushels a day." These men are not 

 willing to work every day, however, since the tautog and other fishing calls 

 their attention, and there is danger of overstocking the market. It there- 

 fore happens that the total catch reported for both New Bedford and 

 Fairhaven men will not exceed 6,400 gallons, valued at $3,864, 60 cents 

 being a fair price in this and the Boston market. The value of the invest- 

 ment devoted to this business at Fairhaven is about $120. 



The scallop industry of 1907 cannot be compared with that of former 

 years. The amount of scallops taken is not one-third of the former 



