The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1908-08-20
CONCERNING THE CLAM.

From time to time reports are cur
rent as to the growing scarcity of that
Succulent shelltish, the clam, and there
is CONSERVATION at the thought that
the day may come when there will be
no more fried CLANS, no more Savory
chowders and stews. Whether or no
these reports lave substantial foun-
dation of fact it is impossible to say
We doubt if ever clam census has
ever been taken in this State; but we
do know that sewage has put the
product OF some clam flats out of the
list of edibles, and that much frequent
ed spots have ceased to yield satisfac-
tory returns Massachusetts has al
ready taken alarm, and it is said that
while the situation is not yet hopeless,
instant measures alone will relieve it.
John Richie, il, contributes to the
Boston Transcript "a Brief for the
Clam" in which he says: ''It is already
a serious money loss for Massachusetts,,
the obsolescence of clam choWder and
the scarcity of the toothsome steamed
Mya arenaria, the sand clam. Yet the
fact is plain that unless something is
done at once the shelfsh industry of
the State, now on the decline, will soon
be thing of the past" That the situa-
ton is not overstated is shown by the
following facts:
Today more than onethird of the
CLANS dug in Massachusetts are taken
from Joppa flats, Newburyport, and
large part of the remainder, one-sixth
of the State product, approximately,
from Ipswich SO that one little corner
of our shore furnishes about one-half
the CLANS. The Duxbury clam has gone.
an industry formerly worth $1,000 a
year to the fishermen. Edgartown and
Nantucket now produce practically
nothing against former $4,000 a year
each. Chatham, likewise, has dropped
from a product of about So, 900 year
to little more than 5000. Other To-
calities, like Boston Harbor and New
Bedford Bay, are prescribed on account
of sewage. Sadded thus with many
barren flats, Massachusetts is import
ing CLAIMS from Maine, the Provinces
and Long Island, when it could easily
supply itself and have quantities for
sale.
Under the laws of Massachusetts,
and we believe the law is the same in
Mane-the owner of shore property is
given possession to low water mark,
but the State reserves to itself and for
the people the right to hunt and fish
al,
dat has no more right in it than an
other citizen of the State and he and
Others may be as inconsiderate and
wasteful as they wish. Thus the beds
are dug over and over again, giving the
bivalves no chance to grow and killing
the Young CLAIMS. The writer in the
Transcript sees only one remedy, and
that is to have the shellfish farms
fostered and cultivated by individual
interest, as oysters are cultivated in
southern waters. He says: "a man
ought to have his clam bank just as he
has now his potato patch, to which he
can 90 and avail himself Of the results
of his industry and foresight. The pres
ent method is one that was framed by
a colony Of pioneers of two hundred
and fifty years ago. Times have changed
and it is out-of-date. 1t checks progress
for it does rot protect the laborer. No
one is willing to invest OF to work, when
he has no control of the results
Such proposition would create quite
a stir if presented in the Maine leglsla-
ture; but let us think it over. Certainly
something must be done. We cannot
permit the clam to become extinct.