Results
1. Is the Quahaug Fishery declining?—The decline of the quahaug fishery is well recognized. Even the production figures, which, when stimulated by high prices, usually give a deceptive appearance of prosperity to a declining industry, since more men enter the fishery, show a decline in the last few years. When such a point is reached,—when, in spite of higher prices and more men, the annual production becomes less and less,—not many years will pass before the industry will collapse completely.
Increased prices show either an increase in demand or a falling off of the supply. Both are perhaps true of the quahaug industry. The demand, especially for “little necks,” has been steadily on the increase, and a broad inland market is gradually opening, since the quahaug is capable of long transportation without perishing. So the increased prices are a sign of the diminution of the supply, as well as of an increased demand, the indeterminable factor being what ratio the one bears to the other.
The only way to determine accurately the decline in the natural supply is to compare the amount the average quahauger could dig ten or twenty years ago with the amount dug to-day. Even this comparison is unfair, as the better rakes, improved methods, etc., of the present time tend to increase the daily yield of the quahauger.
This decline can best be shown by taking special localities:—
(1) Buzzards Bay.—The quahaug industry in Buzzards Bay has shown a great decline in the past ten to twenty years, and the industry is now at a low ebb, especially in the towns of Marion and Mattapoisett. Wareham, Bourne and Fairhaven still manage to ship about 27,000 bushels annually, employing over 200 men; but this is hardly up to their former standard. To-day at Wareham the daily catch per man is one-fifth of what it was twenty years ago; in 1887 a man could dig 5 bushels to a catch of 1 bushel now. Buzzards Bay perhaps has shown the greatest quahaug decline.
(2) South Side of Cape Cod.—While not so marked a decline has taken place as in Buzzards Bay, every quahauger agrees that the industry is gradually failing. In Bass River, at Hyannis, and in Chatham, there is a marked decrease, while at Cotuit and Osterville the industry has remained stationary.
(3) North Side of Cape Cod.—The best quahaug fishery of Massachusetts, except at Edgartown, is found on the north side of Cape Cod, in the towns of Wellfleet, Eastham and Orleans. These three towns give an annual yield of 75,000 bushels. Only about fifteen years old commercially, the industry has passed its prime and is on the decline. This decline is shown both by production figures and by the gradual moving to deeper water. As the quahaugs were thinned out in shallow water, the fishermen moved farther and farther out, using long rakes, until 60-foot rakes are now used at a depth of 50 feet. Probably the 60-foot limit will never be exceeded, unless a method of dredging is devised; and it will be only a question of years when the industry will become extinct.
(4) Nantucket.—The industry here has generally declined, though in the last few years there has been a slight increase in production.
(5) Edgartown.—The quahaug industry at Edgartown has declined little, if any, while the fishery has been carried on for many years. The natural resources have not been seriously impaired, owing to the efficient town management; and Edgartown can be congratulated on being the only town in the State that can boast of a protected industry.
Although the quahaug industry has not openly shown the tendency to decline that the soft clam has manifested in southern Massachusetts, the danger is nevertheless very great, and the disaster would be far worse. The fishermen of Cape Cod realize that the clam industry has practically gone; but they are blind to the fact that a far more important one—the quahaug industry—is in as grave danger, and only when it is too late will they wake to a realization of the situation.
The clam industry on Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay will never assume the importance it possesses on the north shore, owing to lack of extensive flats. Rather the quahaug industry is the main shellfish industry of the south shore, as it is more valuable, more important, and capable of vast expansion. The development of the quahaug industry should bring many hundred thousand dollars to Cape Cod.
II. Causes of the Decline.—The direct cause is overfishing. The quahaug is hardy, little harmed by climatic changes, and has but few natural enemies. Man alone has caused the decline of the natural supply. Not satisfied with taking the mediums and large quahaugs, but spurred on by the high prices offered for the “little neck,” the quahaug fisherman has cleaned up everything he can get, and the natural supply has suffered greatly. If the market demands the capture of the “little neck,” it is necessary to leave the large quahaugs as “spawners.” At the present time, by the capture of both the industry is being ruined.