300 
BULLETIN OP" THE UNITED STATES EISH COMMISSION. 
kiud. Suspeusioii of the iudustry along this part of the river — which is not a remote 
contingency — would prove a calamity to many of the communities. 
The present condition of the principal grounds, before referred to, illustrates the 
serious effects of indiscriminate tisbing and emphasizes the solicitude felt by the 
button-makers and others for the maintenance of the supply. Thus, the large bed in 
front of Muscatine was unable to stand the drain of one year’s fishing, and now yields 
few mussels. The New Boston bed, reported to be the best in this section of the 
Mississippi, M'as so assiduously worked that it was completely exhausted, few fisher- 
men resorting to it in 1898. The abundance of mussels was incredible, and yet a few 
seasons’ o])erations de])leted this ground. It is reiiorted that when fishing first began 
on this bed some men took as much as Ij.aOO to 2,009 pounds of shells in a day’s fishing^ 
but now a, fisherman would have difficulty in getting that quantity in a week. 
Between Burlington and Davenport the condition of the beds is such that many 
fishermen no longer resort to them, but go to grounds that have been worked for a 
shorter time. Dp to July, 1898, there had been no noteworthy decrease in the mussels 
in the river near Davenport, but the fishery there is still quite young, and the 
manufacturers are anticipating a deciease. 
Owing to the very slow growth* of the mussels and the comparative facility with 
which the fishermen exhaust new grounds, there is no reason to believe that depleted 
beds will recuperate while the grounds on which fishing is now being done continue 
to be productive, so the indications are that the conditions will steadily grow more 
unsatisfactory. 
The history of the fishery up to this time shows the disregard for the future which 
has come to be regarded as characteristic of fishermen. The decrease in the mussel 
supply has been broiiglit about by several practices. Tlie principal factor has been 
the activity of fishing operations. Not only have large quantities of mussels been 
taken from the bed at one time, but the fishing has been so incessant that no oppor- 
tunity has been afforded the beds to recuperate. The shoalness of the water has made 
it possible to thoroughly scour almost every foot of ground. The high water that 
prevails during a part of the year was formerly a protection to mussels at an import- 
ant time, but it is so no longer, as the present apparatus may be used at all times 
when a boat can be managed. 
The failure of the fishermen to suspend their operations immediately prior to and 
during the spawning season of the principal species of mussels has undoubtedly had 
a serious effect on the supply. This question has been freely agitated in the local 
press, and the sentiment among most of those interested, including fishermen, favors 
protection for the mussels at this critical time. Under the impression that the 
spawning occurs in spring, they advocate a close time at that season. 
A good many fishermen and manufacturers expressed the view that ice fishing is 
unduly destructive, owing to the fact that enormous quantities of mussels — some as 
small as 1 inch in diameter — are brought up and left on the ice to freeze and die. 
These, in open water, would drop back or be thrown back as the catch is removed 
from the rakes or tongs, or when the boats are cleaned. Aside from this damage, 
many think the shells should be unmolested during the winter, when they are more 
* For example, the time requireil for a “ niggerhcad” mnssel, uiuler normal coiulitions, to reach 
a size of 3 inches is not less than 10 years and is perhaps generally as much as 12 years, while a shell 
inches in diameter is from 15 to 18 years old. 
