Island was 53,960 bushels, valued at $48,564. They were sent chiefly to New York. The total product of Connecticut was about 75,000 bushels each year, worth $38,000.

The early productiveness of the quahog at Cape Cod is shown by the presence of numerous shell-mounds, built up by the Indians and consisting almost entirely of the shells of the quahog. As a business, the quahog fishery dates from the beginning of the last century. "It grew in extent until 1863, and from that time until 1868, the tide was at its highest, since when it has diminished year by year, owing to the 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 was shipped to Boston, Providence, Salem, Newport, Manchester, and a few other New England ports. From 1870 to 1876, the quantity of quahog taken per year decreased from 2,500 bushels to 1,800 bushels.'' 1

The comparative statistics of the New England soft clam yield show a steady condition of the fishery. During twenty-five years this fishery has been subject to less fluctuation in supply and value than any other. The trend of the fishery is exhibited in the following table:

1 Fisheries of the New England States for 1902 and 1905.

Since 1898 there has been a falling off in the extent of the industry, so that national and state investigations have been made to determine how the industry may be revived, or even increased beyond its former best output. The outcome of the investigations was to recommend the increase of the productiveness of the flats by planting small clams on parts of the flats entirely unproductive, and to determine the time required for small clams to grow to a suitable size for market. From experiments already carried on in Maine and Massachusetts, the practicability of planting unproductive beds has been demonstrated. The rate of growth of the clam, also, has been determined approximately, although that depends somewhat on the character of the flats and the currents of water. The recorded growth of a clam five-sixteenths of an inch in length was to a length of one and one-half inches within a month; a clam two inches long increased to four inches in sixteen months; a certain number of medium-sized clams increased to more than three times their volume in a year in a bed with practically no current.1

In the year of 1902, the yield of soft clams for New England was 777,023 bushels, valued at $395,178. During the next three years the quantity of the output fell off to 637,585 bushels, but the value increased to $406,252. The output of quahogs for 1905 was 196,033 bushels, valued at $336,709. Razor clams were worth $1,620. The total value of the New England clam fishery for 1902 was $744,581, ranking sixth in the value of the different fisheries of these States.2

1 Maine Report, Sea and Shore Fisheries, 1905 and 1906; Mass. Report, Fish and Game, 1906, pp. 68-96; Investigation of the Lobster and Soft-shell Clam, p. 210.

2 Fisheries of the New England States for 1902 and 1905.

CHAPTER XIII

METHODS OF INSHORE FISHERIES

The methods of catching and curing groundfish-cod, hake, haddock, halibut, etc.-in the inshore fisheries is essentially the same that is employed in taking the fish in the offshore fisheries. Lines, trawls and bait are used inshore as well as offshore, and the fish are prepared for market in a similar manner. Also, the catching of mackerel by the purse-seine is illustrative of the method used in taking herring, menhaden and alewives in deep water. But the capture of herring in shallow water and the process of curing and packing the fish, and the means employed in taking certain kinds of shellfish call for separate treatment of the methods used in inshore fisheries. One of the most important inshore fisheries of New England is the industry of taking and packing young herring for the sardine trade.

The principal method of capturing young herring is by brush weirs. Herring may be taken by means of torching, that is, the use of lights and dip-nets at night, but this method is employed to a limited extent. The brush weir was known and used in Nova Scotia previous to the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was introduced into the United States about 1820 at North Lubec, Maine. By 1880, American fishermen were engaged in fishing with 66 weirs in the Passamaquoddy region.

The best location for a weir is at a point of land that extends well out into the water, or in a channel between two or more islands or ledges. Weirs are usually placed

where the tides run with considerable force, as it is known that the herring remain in strong currents. They are constructed by driving a row of posts into the mud several feet apart which serve as the basis of the weir. Smaller posts, closer together, are placed between the larger ones and fastened at the top by a stringer piece that extends from the top of one larger post to the other. Fine brush is then woven horizontally on the smaller posts after the manner of basket-making. In shallow water where the current is not strong, it is enough to place small brush trees vertically between the larger posts by shoving one end into the mud and nailing the upper portion to the cross-piece. Where the weir is to be in deep water the small posts are generally arranged in sections and woven with brush on shore, to be placed in position between the larger posts at low tide.

Weirs vary in size and strength according to their position. The cost varies from $40 or $50 for the smallest ones to $800 or $900 for the largest. The value of the average size mud weir is from $200 to $250. The best form of weir is that which is arranged to receive and hold the herring both at flood and ebb tide. Usually one wing is used, with two "pounds" on the deep-water end facing in opposite directions. An extra "pound," or pocket, constructed just outside the weir, is used, in some localities, for retaining the herring until they are needed at the factory.1

The sardine canneries are located on wharves, in order that they may be reached easily by the boats that collect the fish from the weirs. They are usually two-story frame buildings, varying in value from $1,500 to $40,000, according to the location and the completeness of wharves, buildings, and fixtures. The average value of the canneries of Maine to-day is $30,000, a considerable increase over their value a few years ago. In 1898, there were 78 1 Goode, Sec. V, Vol. I, pp. 499-508.

canneries, of which 61 were sardine canneries, valued at $566,305; in 1905, there were 46 canneries, of which 33 were sardine, valued at $1,279,525. The ground floor of the cannery generally has rooms for the machinery, for the salting vats, and for packing boxes. The upper floor contains rooms for steaming and drying the herring, for packing them in oil, and for sealing the cans.

The process of preparing herring for the market as sardines begins where the fish are taken from the receiving pounds of the weirs by the collecting boats and ends with placing the cases of packed sardines aboard the steamboat for shipment to the South or Middle West. Many companies own the boats used in collecting the fish from the weirs, and pay the captain and crew by the month. The boats are now steamers or auxiliary sloops; the prices paid for the fish at the weirs is 30 or 40 cents per bushel. The fish are bailed from the receiving pounds into the holds of the boats and thus taken to the canneries. Upon reaching the wharves the herring are taken out in basketfuls by a small engine, the baskets of fish are taken by overhead carriers into the cannery, where the fish are dumped out upon the tables, and the empty baskets sent out on the return-carrier.

At the cutting tables the fish are seized by boys and girls, and by one operation of the knife the heads and entrails are separated from the body, which is thrown in a box holding about a peck. Five cents a box is paid for heading the herring. The boxes of be-headed fish are placed in cars and taken to large vats. After being washed they are placed in brine and remain for an hour or more. From the vats the herring are dipped by nets into movable stands on which streams of water are playing. As the fish escape from the incline of the stand, they receive a thorough washing and are caught at the floor in baskets. The latter are hoisted to the second floor of the