The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-19
A DECREASE IN BIVALvEs.
Fewer CLAIMS and ScnIIops Along the
New York Coast


New York Coast
NEW YORK. June "a decrease in the
New York State supply Of hard and soft
clans and OF ScaIIoPs is the subject of a
report by Dr. James L. Kellogg published
in the bulletin OF the New York State Mu-
scum, and is based upon a personal in
spection Of the entire coast Of Long Isl
and. The examination. the report says
proved couclusively that the accomplished
depletion of the supply OF CLANS and seal
lops on the New England coast is being
repeated on the Long Island coast.
At the eastern end of Long Island the
shores OF Peconic Bay and Gardiner Bay
are wonderfully adapted for the growth
Of the soft clam. and thousands of bush
els are dug at the west end OF Pecouic
Bay and marketed there every winter
There has been a noticeable diminUtiCn in
The supply in recent years. but it has not
caused alarm among the cIamdiggers thus
far The shores Of Shelter Island, except
the north shore have produced many
clans. but the supply there is said to
be falling of rapidly An increase in the
demand for soft clans in the summer has
been caused by the increase in the sum
mcr population Of Shelter Island The re-
port records the alleged curious fact that
while in New England the soft clam is
used extensively during the summer
months in the popular cIambake. there is
very little demand for it anywhere on
Long Island during that season
From Sag Harbor to Fort Pond Bay
there are many small bays and inLets con-
tanning a supply of soft CLAIMS which has
been regarded as practically ineXhausti-
BILE Comparatively few clans are sent to
New York from that part of the island.
but many are marketed at New London
and other New England centres for dis
tTibution- \ great number are used for
bait by fishermen. The supply is still
great, but 1t is the testimony. of clam
disgers along that part of the Long Isl
and coast that the clam beds are bling de-
pEeted and ruined gradually
On the south shore n Long island, from
Montauk Point to R0ckaway Beach,
where the surf rolls constantly on the
reach of sand, the conditions are nowhere
favorable for the growth of either the
hard or soft clam Few clans are dug in
the Great South Bay or in the bays near
It, but Jamaica Bay contains a large sup
ply Of clans, and many are dug there
every season and sent to the New York
market
The report declares that if immediate
steps are taken to prevent the further de
pletion Of the clam beds on the Long Isl
and shores the destruction Of the clam in
dusrry may be prevented, but attention is
called 10 the complete depletion of the
clam beds at Duxbury and Essex, in Mas
sachUsetts, and it is asserted that the ruin
Of the clam beds 0n the New England
coast has been repeated at Hampstead
HarbOT. oyster Bay, Huntington Bay, and
Shutdown Bay. One New England State
has made appropriations for a practical
enquiry into the possibilities Of clam cuI-
tUre-
our chief conclusion the report says.
is that in most localities along the shore
Of Long Island the supply is now failing
rapidly, and, unless these methods Of ar
tilcial propagation are introduced, must
soon fail completely