Fairhaven
At Fairhaven the quahaug industry is of considerable importance, and the output from this town alone is nearly half the entire production of Buzzards Bay.
Some 3,000 acres are more or less bedded with quahaugs. Of this, probably not more than one-tenth is very productive. The best quahauging is in Acushnet River, where digging for market has been forbidden because of sewage pollution (see New Bedford), and in Priests Cove as far as Sconticut Neck. In these grounds “little necks” are numerous. The grounds around West Island and Long Island, once very productive, are now largely dug out. Little Bay and the east coast of Sconticut Neck are fairly productive, while the west coast yields only a small amount. Most of the quahaugs now dug come from the deep water west-southwest of Sconticut Neck. Here, with rakes having handles from 40 to 60 feet long, the quahaugers dig in water 7 fathoms or more in depth. The quahaugs, mostly large sharps, are in bluish mud or sticky bottom, and are all large. A number of blunts are found with these large sharps. In the Acushnet River, owing to the enforced closed season, there are a large number of “little necks.”
About 115 men are employed now in quahauging. Before the Acushnet River was closed by law, over twice that number are reported to have been engaged in the business. Six power boats and five cat boats, besides a considerable number of skiffs and dories, are used in the fishery.
No permits are required for ordinary quahauging except in the prescribed territory of Acushnet River, where permits to catch a certain amount for bait are given as in New Bedford.
The production for 1879, as given by A. Howard Clark in “The Fisheries of Massachusetts,” was 3,000 bushels, which is just one-fifth of the present production. The supply of quahaugs has decreased the last few years, though new territory is constantly being opened up, as the quahaugers go out further into the deeper water. The increased price, however, probably more than counterbalances the decline in production.
Summary of Industry.
| Area of quahaug territory (acres), | 3,000 |
| Number of men, | 115 |
| Number of boats, | 11 |
| Value of boats, | $2,600 |
| Number of skiffs, | 100 |
| Value of skiffs, | $1,500 |
| Value of implements, | $900 |
Production.
| “Little necks”:— | |
| Bushels, | 1,000 |
| Value, | $2,500 |
| Quahaugs:— | |
| Bushels, | 14,000 |
| Value, | $14,000 |
| Total:— | |
| Bushels, | 15,000 |
| Value, | $16,500 |