A Report upon the Mollusk Fisheries of Massachusetts

by Massachusetts. Commissioners on Fisheries and Game; David Lawrence Belding

Summary.

This survey has shown (1) that the shellfisheries have declined (an established fact); (2) that the causes of the decline are overfishing and unwise laws; (3) that the remedy is, not to check the demand, as has been previously attempted, but to increase the production by the utilization of vast areas of barren flats, which have been experimentally proved capable of yielding a great harvest; (4) that the present chaotic laws render this impossible; (5) that there is a need of reform, or else the shellfisheries will soon disappear; (6) that the first step is the removal of these laws to permit the application of proper cultural methods.