CLAM FISHERY OF PAS8AMAQU0DDY BAY 



31 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a 



have been employed as food and as ornaments. On the coasts of Norway and Denmark 

 there are banks of shells 1,000 feet long, 200 feet broad and 10 feet deep. These were 

 for some time looked upon as natural deposits, but when they were found to contain 

 remnants of stone fire-places, bones, rude implements, &c., it became evident that they 

 were refuse heaps (kitchen middens) of the primitive fishermen-tribes of those districts. 

 Similar shell-heaps occur alon^ the coast of Canada and of the United States. A 

 peculiarity in the use of shell-fish by the people of both continents is this, that whereas 

 in Europe the mussels have been almost entirely used to the exclusion of the clams, on 

 this continent even where both occur together and in equal abundance, clams are taken 

 and the mussels left. If the latter are used at all it is chiefly as a fertilizer. 



Of our food mollusks, the oyster is the most important. After this * stands the 

 clam, and then on a much lower level the scallop, quahog, periwinkle, razor-fish, mussel, 

 whelk, ike. The clam is used to a much greater extent in the United States than in 

 Canada, consequently a considerable proportion of those collected here for food purposes 

 make their way to the former country. I subjoin here the summary of the clam fishery 

 £or Mya arenaria in the United States for the year 1880 : 



Bushels. Value. 



Maine 318,383 | 90,056 



New Hampshire 17,960 8,980 



Massachusetts 158,626 76,195 



Rhode Island . . . , 53,960 48,564 



Connecticut 75,000 38,000 



New York 340,775 255,581 



New Jersey and Southward c , 100,000 45,000 



Total 1,064,704 $562,376 



In Prince Edward Island the clam is only used to a small extent. In Nova Scotia 

 it is extensively used on the coast and there also exists some trade inland, In New 

 Brunswick, likewise, there are considerable quantities used along the coast as well as 

 small orders sent inland to hotels and shops. It is stated that in St. J ohn there are 

 1,000 barrels a year sold. At present the best business is carried on at St. Andrews. 

 It is of only two years' standing, and was occasioned by the formation of laws restricting 

 the period for clam fishing in the United States Last year (1899) a New England clam 

 fisherman came to St. Andrews and originated the business of supplying certain Boston 

 fish stores with clams three times a week. He remained here from June 15 to Sept- 

 ember 15, i.e. during the closed season in his own state, after which time he returned 

 to carry on the same trade during the remainder of the year, nearer his market. He 

 dug clams himself and bought from the local clam diggers, to whom he paid $1.00 a 

 barrel. The number of men supplying him was in the neighbourhood of 25. One man 

 can easily dig a barrel at a single tide, and when the tides fall at favourable times in the 

 day he can procure twice that quantity. The business however is not forced — a greater 

 quantity of clams could be procured than the market demands. Last year the above 

 mentioned clam dealer shipped to Boston 1,800 barrels in the three months he was here. 

 Of the two full months, July and August, the greatest shipment was in August, the 

 next in July, while of the two half months, June 15-30 and September 1-15, the 

 greatest number was shipped in September. Beside this a local fish dealer shipped 

 about 250 barrels. 



During the present year (1900) the New England clammer shipped about 1,200 

 barrels, and a local shop keeper perhaps 100 barrels. The explanation of this falling 

 ofi" of the trade is that in the meantime, I am told, a business had sprung up at Yar- 

 mouth, Nova Scotia, whereby perhaps 200 barrels a week are sent to Boston. Most of 

 those from St. Andrews are put up in ordinary barrels, on the tops of which are placed 

 large lumps of ice kept in place by a canvas. The latter is readily fastened by first 

 removing the upper hoop of the barrel and then replacing it over the canvas, the edges 

 of which are clamped between the hoop and the barrel and then nailed. In this way 

 the clams are kept cool and moist by the filteration of water from the melting ice above. 



