Edgartown
Although Edgartown possesses 200 acres of clam flats, it is not in a true sense a clam-producing town. The reason for this small production is due to the nature of the flats, which are mostly under water at low tide, making clamming difficult. Naturally Edgartown devotes its energies to the more profitable quahaug and scallop fisheries.
The clam flats of the town are situated along the shores of Cape Poge Pond and in the lower part of Katama Bay, where many acres of flats are continually submerged. The shore flats are of small area, owing to the light rise and fall of the tide, less than 3 feet at this part of the coast.
(1) Cape Poge Pond.—Scattering clams are found all along the shore flats, except for a ¾-mile strip on the west side. The soil is of a coarse sand or gravel.
(2) Katama Bay.—The best clam flats of the town are situated in Katama Bay, and extend over a considerable territory. These flats, consisting of a coarse, sandy soil, lie continually submerged. Here the clams are dug by means of a “sea horse.” This “animal” is nothing more than an elongated clam hoe with a belt attachment, whereby the clammer can “churn” out the clams at a depth of 2 to 3 feet.
The clam industry of Edgartown has fallen off considerably since 1879. However, the clammers say that it has improved during the last fifteen years. The following comparison is made between the production of 1879 and 1907:—
Comparison of 1907 with 1879.
| YEAR. | Production for Food (Bushels). | Production for Bait (Bushels). | Production (Bushels). | Value of Production. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1879, | 1,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 | $1,570 |
| 1907, | 625 | 575 | 1,200 | 1,000 |
The general shellfish regulations which govern the other shellfisheries of the town apply to the clam fishery; but the industry has never been considered important enough to need special legislation, and but slight attention has been given to it.
Summary of Industry.
| Number of men, | 7 |
| Capital invested, | $50 |
| Production, 1907:— | |
| Bushels, | 1,200 |
| Value, | $1,000 |
| Total area (acres):— | |
| Sand, | 150 |
| Mud, | — |
| Gravel, | 50 |
| Mussels and eel grass, | — |
| Total, | 200 |
| Productive area (acres):— | |
| Good clamming, | 20 |
| Scattering clams, | 100 |
| Barren area possibly productive (acres), | 50 |
| Waste barren area (acres), | 30 |
| Possible normal production, | $33,000 |
In the opinion of many, doubtless, this report may appear unduly lengthy, and to include many seemingly trivial facts and unnecessary repetitions. To the trained observer, however, it seems of the greatest importance in dealing with such a practical and important problem to place on record all facts and opinions which may become of value, and to emphasize by frequent repetitions certain fundamental facts.
Respectfully submitted,
D. L. BELDING.
The preceding report is intended to be a reliable statement of facts, and suggestions for consideration. On such a basis of facts the future policy of developing the shellfisheries must be based. It is the purpose of the Commissioners on Fisheries and Game to hold a series of public hearings in the different sections of the State for the purpose of giving personal expositions of the shellfish conditions and possibilities, and of giving a better opportunity for exchanging, discussing and weighing opinions. Meantime, in considering the conditions of the shellfisheries of Massachusetts, and the laws necessary to improve these conditions, the following points are of importance.
The present shellfish laws are based upon the principle of “public” fisheries, and were made at times and at places where there was such a superabundance that the natural increase was sufficient to meet the market demands. Artificial cultivation was unnecessary. The fundamental laws were made in the colonial days. Since then the demand for shellfish as food has enormously increased, and for many years the annual natural increase has been entirely inadequate to meet these demands. We have outgrown the conditions which the original conception of that law covered. Under parallel conditions it has been found necessary to sell or lease the public lands, in order that the yield of food may be increased by cultivation under the immediate direction and responsibility of individual citizens, and under protection of State and national laws. When it was learned that the yield of a cultivated oyster bed far exceeded the natural product both in quantity and quality, the oyster laws were so modified that an important industry was built up, until to-day practically the entire oyster yield of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut is from cultivated beds, and the total product is many times the total catch from the natural beds in their palmiest days. To-day not only is it necessary to so modify the oyster laws as to increase the opportunities for better utilizing our bays and estuaries for oyster growing on a more extensive scale than is done at present, but also for developing similar methods of growing clams and quahaugs, and perhaps also scallops. The tidal flats must, as well as the deeper waters, be made to produce food and money by securing a larger yield per acre, and by the utilization of thousands of acres which are now practically idle, but which either are now adapted for growing shellfish or can readily be made so.
Our present shellfish laws are a heterogeneous, conflicting patchwork, devised to meet temporary and local conditions, utterly inadequate to-day to permit the fishermen to secure a just return for their labor, and completely sacrificing the public interests. In many cases the responsible tax-paying citizen cannot find a place to dig a family supply of clams or quahaugs, neither can the industrious native fisherman get a fair day’s pay for his labor.
An entirely new code of shellfish laws is necessary, based upon the general principles (1) that in selling the shores the State reserved the right of fishing as “far as the tide doth ebb and flow,” and (2) that the State may now lease these fishing rights under such conditions and restrictions as to secure to every citizen so desiring and so deserving an opportunity to cultivate such a definite area as may meet his needs and powers. Experience has proved conclusively that it is a correct economic principle for the State to give a secure title to certain carefully defined lands to a capable man, and to say: “This land is yours. You may raise potatoes, corn, hay or anything you choose. Every plant, fruit or tree growing on this property is yours. You have become responsible for its right and proper use. You have full and complete rights in this property, and can develop it by investing your labor and your money according to your own judgment, and the State will protect you in these rights as long as you do not interfere with the rights of other persons.” Equally so it is an indubitable economic fact that the landowner finds it more profitable to plant or transplant corn, potatoes, grass, strawberries, etc., rather than to depend upon the natural methods and yield. Similarly, it is equally logical for the State to give to the fisherman equal opportunities with the farmer. The State should guarantee the tenure of the fisherman in his definitely bounded shellfish garden, and should protect his interests and the property on that garden as securely as if it were potatoes or corn, and should, so far as possible, guard him from local jealousy or the effects of petty politics so long as he continues wisely to improve his grant in conformity to the spirit and letter of laws which are found by experience to give the greatest good to the greatest number.
Further, the State should protect the fishermen and the consumers of shellfish by defining the areas which from a sanitary point of view are (1) totally unsuitable for shellfish cultivation; (2) those where shellfish may be grown but not eaten; and, finally, (3) definite areas from which alone shellfish may be sold for food. Provide suitable penalties for sale of shellfish which have not been kept for the required time (at least thirty days) in sanitary surroundings before going to market. The entire question of pollution of streams and estuaries must be carefully considered in view of the public rights and of the commercial interests of the fishermen. Further, the laws must be so carefully drawn that the respective rights and interests of individual fishermen, shore owners, summer cottagers and the transient public at the seashore are completely safeguarded against the dangers of predatory wealth monopolizing the opportunities for cultivating shellfish in the waters and the tidal flats.
The situation is extremely complicated on account of the diverse conditions and the numerous conflicting interests, oystermen, quahaugers, clammers and scallopers, native and alien fishermen, owners of shore property, town and State rights, local interests and petty politics, and careful judicial consideration is necessary not alone as to the substance of the necessary laws, but upon the methods of administering these laws.
Respectfully submitted,
G. W. FIELD.
J. W. DELANO.
G. H. GARFIELD.
Footnotes
17 Licenses.
18 Licences for bait.
19 Licenses.
20 Statistics of the number of men engaged were unobtainable.