Orleans
Although Orleans is well represented by all four main types of shellfish, the quahaug fishery is the leading industry of the town. A favorable coast line, fronting on the west the waters of Cape Cod Bay and bounded on the east by Pleasant Bay, provides excellent facilities for the quahaug fishery.
The main quahauging territory is in Cape Cod Bay. While the west coast of Orleans is only about a mile long, the privileges which allow the citizens of Orleans free fishing in Eastham waters, according to the act of incorporation in 1792, “whereby the benefits of the shellfishery were to be mutually shared,” opens up an extensive tract of quahaug territory, from 2 to 3 miles in width, extending north as far as Billingsgate Island and the Wellfleet line. The actual Orleans quahaug territory consists only of 1,000 acres, which furnish but poor quahauging, while the water is several fathoms deep.
On the east side an entirely different condition prevails. Here in the waters of Pleasant Bay is a bed of quahaugs which, though worked for a long time, is still in excellent condition. The proportion of “little necks” is larger than on the west side, running about one-half the entire catch; neither is the water as deep here, rarely having a greater depth than 12 feet, and by no means as rough as the more exposed waters of Cape Cod Bay. The quahauging grounds here comprise 500 acres.
Although there are 1,500 acres of quahaug territory in the town of Orleans, only a small part of this is commercially productive, and the larger part of the fishery is carried on in Eastham waters.
The possession of two entirely different quahaug grounds, one on the east, the other on the west coast, makes practically two different industries, each of which will have to be considered separately.
(1) Cape Cod Bay Industry.—In Cape Cod Bay 50 men rake quahaugs whenever the weather will permit. Owing to the great depth of water, the work is difficult, requiring rakes with handles often 60 feet long. Two men generally go in one boat, the usual type being an elongated dory, some 30 to 32 feet over all, carrying from 4 to 12 horse-power gasolene engines. These boats are built to stand rough weather, and cost from $700 to $1,000 apiece. Thirty boats are employed in this business in the bay.
The quahauger averages perhaps 100 working days in a year, as in a strong wind and choppy sea it is impossible to rake in the deep water. A good fisherman expects to rake from 2 to 3 barrels of quahaugs a day. Five to ten years ago as many as 15 barrels were dug in a day by one man, but this is impossible now. Even as it is, the profits are large. The best quahauger in Orleans cleared in 1906 over $1,600, while several others made nearly $1,400. As at Wellfleet, the Orleans quahaugers receive licenses to replant their quahaugs along the shore, and it is customary to thus keep them until the New York or Boston markets offer suitable prices. Nearly two-thirds of these deep-water quahaugs are blunts, and perhaps one-tenth of the catch is “little necks.”
(2) Pleasant Bay Industry.—About 25 men dig here from ordinary dories, using short rakes and tongs. The average wages are $2 to $3 per day, which is considerably less than the high wages of the Cape Cod Bay fishery; but many more days can be utilized during the year, while the work is much easier and the necessary outlay of capital is slight. Here the quahaugs run about one-half “little necks,” and the proportion of blunts is small.
Little evidence of decline can be seen in Pleasant Bay, where the bed of quahaugs, although raked for a long time, still shows few signs of decrease. On the Cape Cod Bay side the reverse is true, and the supply is gradually diminishing.
The same town laws for regulation of the quahaug fishery apply for Wellfleet, Eastham and Orleans. (See Wellfleet.)
The main historical features of the quahaug industry at Orleans have been similar to Wellfleet, the industry lying practically dormant until 1894, when it rapidly reached its present production. Unfortunately, but little data can be obtained for comparison of the industry of 1879 with 1907. Ernest Ingersoll reports, in 1879:—
At Orleans, some few men who go mackereling in summer stay at home and dig clams in winter, getting perhaps 50 barrels of quahaugs among others, which are peddled in the town.
Comparing the two years by table, we find:—
| 1879. | 1907. | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual production, | 150 bushels, | 33,000 bushels. |
| Value of production, | $82.50, | $41,350. |
| Number of men, | A few, | 75. |
| Location, quahaug beds, | Pleasant Bay, | Cape Cod Bay and Pleasant Bay. |
| Market, | Home consumption, | New York and Boston. |
Summary of Industry.
| Cape Cod Bay. | Pleasant Bay. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area (acres), | 1,000 | 500 | 1,500 |
| Number of men, | 50 | 25 | 75 |
| Number of boats, | 30 | — | 30 |
| Value of boats, | $23,000 | — | $23,000 |
| Number of dories, | — | 25 | 25 |
| Value of dories, | — | $500 | $500 |
| Value of implements, | $1,250 | $250 | $1,500 |
| Production. | |||
| “Little necks”:— | |||
| Bushels, | 2,700 | 3,000 | 5,700 |
| Value, | $6,750 | $7,000 | $13,750 |
| Quahaugs:— | |||
| Bushels, | 24,300 | 3,000 | 27,300 |
| Value, | $24,300 | $3,300 | $27,600 |
| Total:— | |||
| Bushels, | 27,000 | 6,000 | 33,000 |
| Value, | $31,050 | $10,300 | $41,350 |