41 



of hard clams were found in Onslow Bay-- 

 from Cape Lookout to 4 miles west of Beaufort 

 Inlet, in the 4- to 6 -fathom depth (fig. 5). In 

 this area, the Silver Bay caught 4,200 pounds 

 (47 bushels) of hard clams during simulated 

 commercial fishing with a modified 14 -tooth 

 Fall River clam dredge (Captiva, 1960) in 388 

 minutes of fishing. The catch was landed and 

 sent to a local processing plant, where the 

 clams were processed with satisfactory re- 

 sults. Interested fishermen were given infor- 

 mation on gear costs, sources of supply, gear 

 rigging, and h and 1 i ng techniques. Local 

 shrimp vessels were readily and inexpensive- 

 ly converted to the dredging operation. Thus, 

 with Bureau technical assistance, a small win- 

 ter fishery developed in 1959 (Porter and 

 Chestnut, 1960). 



Catch rates were not determined, but they 

 can be estimated. Porter and Chestnut (1962) 

 reported that fishermen were paid about $2.25 

 per bushel in 1960. Based on personal contact 

 and reports from fishermen, the boats usually 

 grossedabout $100 to$125per day.!' There- 

 fore, the estimated average production varied 

 from 44 to 55 bushels of clams per day during 

 the winter "off season," when fishermen and 

 vessels were not normally engaged in fishing 

 operations. Chestnut (personal communica- 

 tion) reported that some vessels worked spo- 

 radically and others rather regularly. He re- 

 ported too that from January to March 1960, 

 1,155,000 pounds of clams in the shell were 

 caught by 12 vessels; from October 1960 to 

 June 1961, 2,242,000 pounds of clams in the 

 shell were caught by 15 vessels. 



Although the limited fishery depends upon 

 local market demand, it" is none theless valu- 



2/Porter and Chestnut (1962) also report an average daily catch of 4, 831 pounds for 239 boat days--(a) $2.25 per 90 pound bushel = 

 $120.75. 



able because it provided fishermen with an- 

 other source of income during poor shrimping 

 seasons or during winter months. Hard clams 

 do not appear to be a transitory resource for 

 they have been available since their discovery 

 in commercial quantities in 1959. 



Throughout the remainder of the area sur- 

 veyed, not enough hard clams were found for 

 commercial harvesting. Most catches con- 

 sisted only of shells or few live clams; how- 

 ever, these catches suggest that hard clams 

 live in or a d j a c e n t to most of the area sur- 

 veyed, possibly in waters shallower than 3 

 fathoms. The Silver Bay could not explore ef- 

 fectively there. In the tidal marsh zone ad- 

 jacent to much of the area surveyed, it is not 

 uncommon for individuals to dig hard clams 

 for personal consumption, though they are not 

 usually sold commercially. For these rea- 

 sons, hard -clam explorations with the Silver 

 Bay and with the Fall River type clam dredge 

 were discontinued in 1961. A shallow -draft 

 vessel suitable for clam searching over vari- 

 ous types of b o 1 1 o m--and the use of new or 

 modified dredging gear - -are recommended for 

 future work. 



APPENDIX 



Table 3, Fishing Log--M/V Silver Bay. . . 

 is attached as appendix to reprint (Separate 

 No. 776) of this article. For a free copy of the 

 Separate, write to Office of Information, U. S. 

 Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 

 Washington, D. C. 20240. 



UTERATURE CITED 



ABBOTT, R. TUCKER 



1954. American Seashells. 

 New York. 541 pp. 



D . Van Nostrand Co . , Inc . 



ARCISZ, W., and L. A. SAKDHOLZER 



1947. A Technological Study of the Ocean Quahog Fishery. 

 Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 9, no. 6 (June), 

 pp. 1-21. (Also Separate No. 176.) 



BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL HSHERIES 



1960a. Hard Clams Found in Commercial Quantities Off North 

 Carolina Coast, Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 

 22, no. 2 (February), pp. 42-43. 



1960b. Commercial Beds of Scallops Found Off Florida East 

 Coast. Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 22, no. 

 3 (March), pp. 26-27. 



1960c. Exploratory Trawling Operations Off South Atlantic 

 Coast. Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 22, no. 

 5 (May), pp. 29-31. 



1960d. Savannah River-Cape Hatteras Offshore Areas Sur- 

 veyed for Fish and Shellfish Resources. Commer- 

 cial Fisheries Review, vol. 22, no. 10 (October), 

 pp. 42-43. 



1961a. Fish and Shellfish Resources Off Coasts of North and 

 South Carolina and Georgia Surveyed. Commercial 

 Fisheries Review, vol. 23, no. 2 (February), p. 26. 



1961b. Survey of Fish and Shellfish Resources Off Georgia 

 and Florida, Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 

 23, no. 4 (April), pp. 31-33. 



