GIANT SCALLOP FISHERY OP MAINE. 
327 . 
However this may be, it is known that the mollnsks lie thickly on the bottom, and 
that ten or twelve successive hauls may often be made over the same spot before the 
scallops appear to be seriously diminished. 
Mr. James E. Benedict, for some years the naturalist on board the U. S. Fish Com- 
mission exploring steamer Albatross, informs the writer that in many localities off our 
coast the scallops lie very thickly on the bottom, and are so closely matted together 
by the sponges and worm-tubes that locomotion is impossible. Under such conditions 
the working of the beds would probably be promotive of the growth and improvement 
in the quality of the individual animals and the expansion of the beds, by breaking up 
the masses of mollnsks and giving them an opportunity to exercise their locomotive 
faculties in search of new feeding grounds. 
(d) Nature of the bottom . — Scallops can not be said to prefer any particular kind 
of bottom, and their presence in a given locality is rather to be attributed to favorable 
conditions of salinity and temperature than to the character of the bottom. In certain 
places the mollnsks may be found on a rocky bottom, for instance, to the exclusion of 
other kinds, while in an adjoining section they may occur only on soft sticky mud. 
Off Mount Desert Island the greatest variety of bottom is found. The beds 
adjacent to the northern and eastern sides of Bartlett’s Island and off Hardwood 
Island are on soft bottom, as ascertained by the U. S. Coast Survey. The bed at the 
southern end of Bartlett’s Island is on rocky bottom. Sticky mud predominates off 
Moose Island. Mr. Heath remarks that the scallops in that vicinity occur on bottoms 
of rock, reddish gravel, hard clay, and dead shells. 
Mr. Gray has found that the numerous beds in the Penobscot Bay, between Eagle 
Island and Dice’s Head, occur mostly on the hard, rocky bottoms, some of them so 
rugged that a dredge can not be used thereon. The large bed near the Islesborough 
shore appears to be chiefly on clay and mud. 
In the Bagaduce River the bottom is mostly rocky. Mr. Vogell states that the 
scallops do not there occur on soft bottom, but seem to prefer hard, smooth areas, cov- 
ered with free rocks from the size of pebbles to stones so large that a dredge is some- 
times caught behind them and lost. 
In the Sheepscot River, black and gray sand and mud appear to be the predomi- 
nant forms of bottom. 
11.— FISHING SEASON. 
The Ashing season varies in the different localities. It depends chiefly on the prox- 
imity of the markets. Generally speaking, where there is a good local demand in the 
vicinity of the scallop beds^ the fishery may continue throughout the year; in other 
cases, with distant markets, the fishery has to be regulated by the weather and is 
confined to the colder months, during which shipments may be safely made for long 
distances. 
On Mount Desert Island, the months of July and August see the greatest activity 
among the scallop fishermen, and the bulk of the catch is made during that time; in 
November and December a few men also follow the business ; during the remainder 
of the year, however, t,he output is small and uncertain. 
At Little Deer Isle, an isolated center, the principal operations are carried on 
from the first of December till the termination of cold weather in March or April ; in 
