Wellfleet
The town of Wellfleet possesses the finest quahaug industry in Massachusetts. More men are engaged in the business and the annual production is larger than that of any other town of the State.
In colonial days the towns of Orleans, Eastham and Wellfleet were incorporated as one town,—the town of Eastham. In 1763 an act was passed incorporating the North Precinct of Eastham into a district by the name of Wellfleet, “Reserving to the inhabitants of said town the privileges by them heretofore enjoyed of all ways to and of erecting houses on the beaches and islands for the convenience of the fishery of all kinds, and of anchorage and of landing all goods or wares at any of their common landing places in any of the harbors of said Eastham in like manner as they might have done if this act had never been made and passed.” By this act were created the two independent towns of Eastham and Wellfleet, which held in common all fisheries, thus giving the mutual right of the shellfisheries to both towns.
In 1797 another act of incorporation, separating Orleans from Eastham, was enacted, which provided that the benefits of the shellfisheries of these two towns were to be mutually enjoyed.
The result of these two acts was to give Eastham and Wellfleet and at the same time Eastham and Orleans mutual rights of the shellfishery, but forbidding mutual shellfisheries between Wellfleet and Orleans. While this may seem to give theoretically the advantage to Eastham, actually the town gains nothing in the quahaug fishery, as Orleans has practically no productive grounds on the bay side, and the Orleans quahaugers fish in the Eastham waters.
The quahaug territory of Wellfleet comprises about 2,500 acres, and approximately takes up all the harbor, wherever there are no oyster grants, running from the “Deep Hole” between Great Island and Indian Neck southward to the Eastham line. Outside of these limits a few quahaugs are found on the flats of Duck Creek and along the shore flats of the town. They are more abundant on the north side of Egg Island, where they are taken in shallow water with ordinary hand rakes. The best quahauging is found in the channel extending from an imaginary line between Lieutenant’s Island and Great Beach Hill south to Billingsgate. The greatest depth at low tide is 4½ fathoms and the general average is about 3 fathoms. In this channel are found most of the “little necks,” small blunts and small sharps.
Outside of the oyster grants, quahaugs are found south of Great Island, north of Billingsgate Island on the west side of the harbor, on Lieutenant’s Island bar and at the mouth of Blackfish Creek. A few quahaugs, both sharps and blunts, are raked with 25-foot rakes in the shallow water 6 to 8 feet near the beach, usually on a sandy bottom.
The principal market for Wellfleet quahaugs is New York, though many are sent to Boston and other parts of the country, even to the middle west. Quahaugs have been shipped from Wellfleet to Milwaukee and arrived in good condition after ten days.
The annual production is 33,000 bushels, one-sixth of these, 5,500 bushels, being “little necks.” There were 140 men engaged in the fishery in 1906, and 145 permits were granted in 1907. The average yield for a day’s raking is 4 bushels, although an exceptional quahauger can sometimes rake 7 bushels.
Practically all the raking is done in deep water, with rakes the handles of which are often 47 feet long. Each quahauger has a set of handles of various lengths for different depths of water. Both power boats and “cats” are used here in quahauging, the power boats possessing considerable advantage over the sail boat. Thirty-eight power boats and 62 sail boats, both single and double manned, are used at Wellfleet.
At present there is every indication of a declining fishery. Until the last three years the industry has been steadily on the increase since 1894. The maximum production was reached a few years ago, and the industry is slowly on the decline, unless the opening up of new beds gives it a fresh start. Unfortunately, all the quahaugers do not realize the possibility of this seemingly inexhaustible supply giving out, and believe it will continue forever; but any one can see that it is impossible for the natural supply to continue when such inroads are yearly made, and that it is only a question of time when the best business asset of the town will become extinct.
For years there has been an antagonistic feeling between the quahaugers and the oystermen, due to the conflicting interests of these industries. Although the quahaug territory has been narrowed down by the giving of oyster grants in the harbor, the quahaug fishery has not suffered severely, as the poorer quahaug grounds were alone granted, with the idea that more money could be made by using these for oyster culture. Although these grants were laid out in good faith, injustice in many instances has been done the quahaug industry; but on the whole the change has been for the benefit of the town. In the broad waters of Wellfleet harbor there is room for both industries, and there is no reason why both should not prosper if wisely regulated, without the intervention of town politics. At present this antagonism has hurt the interests of both, and it is manifestly unfair that either should drive the other out while there is room for both to prosper.
Wellfleet is the only town that can boast of a quahaug club. This club was formed in 1904, and had an enrollment of practically all the quahaugers.
Permits are required of every man engaged in the quahaug fishery. These cost $1 apiece, and are granted on application to any one who has been a resident of the town for six months. These permits are to be obtained each year, on or before May 1, after which date an additional charge of 50 cents is made for collecting. No person without a regular permit is allowed to catch quahaugs for market. Permits were first issued in 1904.
Section 2 of chapter 269 of the Acts of 1904 is as follows:—
Section 2. No inhabitant of said towns shall sell or offer for sale little neck clams or quahaugs which measure less than one and one-half inches across the widest part, and no person shall in any of said towns sell or offer for sale little neck clams or quahaugs which measure less than one and one-half inches across the widest part.
This excellent law was passed for the towns of Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet, but has never been enforced. Although enacted and technically lived up to, no measures are made for its enforcement, which would necessitate a shellfish inspector. This furnishes an example of the nonenforcement of one of the few good town laws.
Section 4 of chapter 269 of the Acts of 1904 is as follows:—
Section 4. The selectmen of the said towns may, in their respective towns, grant licenses or permits for such periods, not exceeding two years, and under such conditions as they may deem proper, not however covering more than seventy-five feet square in area, to any inhabitants of the town to bed quahaugs in any waters, flats and creeks within the town at any place where there is no natural quahaug bed, not impairing the private rights of any person or materially obstructing any navigable waters. It shall be unlawful for any person, except the licensee and his agents, to take any quahaugs in or remove them from the territory covered by any such license.
The above should receive well-deserved praise, as it is one of the most useful town laws ever enacted in Massachusetts. Each quahauger is thus enabled to stake off a little plot 75 feet square on the flats, whereon he can bed his catch whenever the market price is too low for shipment. This not only makes steadier work for the quahaugers, since a dull market does not stop digging, as before, but also enables him to obtain a better price for his quahaugs, and he is not forced to lose through the wastes of competition.
Quahaugs have always been abundant at Wellfleet. Forty years ago about 15 men were engaged in the business, and shipped their catch to Boston by packet boats, quahaugs then wholesaling at 50 cents per bushel.
In 1879 (report of the United States Fish Commission) Ernest Ingersoll gives the following account of the quahaug industry at Wellfleet, which furnishes such an excellent comparison with the present industry that it is given here:—
The early productiveness of Cape Cod is shown by the presence of numerous shellfish heaps, particularly in Wellfleet and Barnstable harbors, filled up by the Indians, and consisting almost wholly of the shells of this mollusk. Though in greatly depleted numbers, the quahaug still survives along the inside of the Cape, and at Wellfleet has been raked from early times by the settlers. Mr. F. W. True contributes some notes on this place, from which I learn that the quahaug fishery as a business there dates from the beginning of the nineteenth century. It grew in extent until 1863, and from that time until 1868 the trade was at its height, since when it has diminished year by year, owing to lack of good market rather than failure of the supply. Between 1863 and 1869 the average catch each year was not less than 2,500 bushels. Of this amount a comparatively small part was consumed at Wellfleet, and the rest were shipped to Boston, Provincetown, Salem, Newport, Manchester and a few other New England ports. From 1870 to 1876 the quantity of quahaugs taken per year decreased from 2,500 bushels to 1,800 bushels, and this latter amount has remained constant to the present year. Of the total catch in 1878, fully one-half, or 900 bushels, was consumed in Wellfleet, and the remaining 900 bushels were shipped to Boston and other neighboring towns. For three years, beginning with 1876, 75 bushels of quahaugs have been annually shipped to New York City.
Quahaugs are found in all parts of Wellfleet Bay except in a small spot near the wharves, called the “Deep Hole,” and a similar one on the west side of the bay. Both of these places are covered with a thick, soft mud. It is not usual, however, to fish in parts of the bay where the average depth at low water exceeds 8 feet. Most of the raking is done on the western side. In ordinary years, quahaug raking is begun the last of March and continues until the first of October. As a general thing, no raking is done through the winter months, although in some years a small amount has been done through holes cut in the ice. The fishermen rake about four tides per week, beginning at half-ebb and raking to half-flood. The boats used are either cat boats or yawls rigged with two sails. Each boat carries 1 man. The rake employed at Wellfleet is described by Mr. True as similar in form to an oyster rake, but made of steel instead of iron. In former days this instrument was of iron, the tips of the teeth only being of steel. An average rake has seventeen teeth, and weighs about 12 pounds. The handle or tail is of wood, and is about 23 feet long. The baskets in which the quahaugs are collected and measured are of ordinary manufacture, and hold about a bushel each; and the whole outfit of a quahaug fisherman does not cost over $150, and the total amount of capital invested in apparatus at the present time in Wellfleet does not exceed $800. This amount is about evenly divided between 5 men, none of whom are engaged in this fishery more than a part of their time.
Quahaugs are sent to market always in the shell, and packed in second-hand flour or sugar barrels. The wholesale price of quahaugs for many years averaged 60 cents per bushel, but in 1879 it fell to 55 cents. One dollar and seventy-five cents is the average wholesale price per barrel. Quahaugs retail in Wellfleet at 80 cents per bushel. The usual method of transportation is by packet, at a cost of 25 cents per barrel.9
Comparison of 1879 With 1907.
| 1879. | 1907. | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual production, | 1,800, | 33,000. |
| Annual value, | $990, | $41,250. |
| Average price per bushel, | 55 cents, | $1.25. |
| Number of men, | 5, | 145. |
| Capital, | $800, | $25,950. |
| Market, | Boston and New York, | New York, Boston, and other cities. |
| Season, | April 1 to October 1, | April 1 to October 1. |
| Boats, | 5 sail boats, | 100 boats, one-third power, two-thirds sail. |
| Deepest water, | 8 feet, | 40 feet. |
| Longest rake, | 23 feet, | 47 feet. |
| Best quahaug beds, | West side of harbor, | Channel. |
From the account of Mr. Ingersoll the above table has been formulated, showing the vast increase in the quahaug business of Wellfleet since 1879, as well as certain changes in the industry. This by no means proves that the quahaug industry is on the increase; it merely shows that it has taken a tremendous development since 1879, and the fact that the quahaug industry of Wellfleet has passed its maximum production a few years ago and is now on the decline should not be overlooked in consulting this table, which otherwise would give an erroneous impression. The changing of the quahaug grounds from shallow to deeper water alone is a sign of the decline of the industry. The quahaug industry has developed to its present extent only since 1894, and is comparatively recent. By the opening of the great beds of “little necks” and quahaugs in the channel and deep water the industry suddenly became important.
Summary of Industry.
| Area of quahaug territory (acres), | 2,500 |
| Number of men, | 145 |
| Number of power boats, | 38 |
| Value of power boats, | $14,000 |
| Number of sail boats, | 62 |
| Value of sail boats, | $10,300 |
| Value of implements, | $3,200 |
Production.
| “Little necks”:— | |
| Bushels, | 5,500 |
| Value, | $13,850 |
| Quahaugs:— | |
| Bushels, | 27,500 |
| Value, | $27,500 |
| Total:— | |
| Bushels, | 33,000 |
| Value, | $41,350 |