The method of obtaining a grant by a resident of the town is to choose the locality, stake out the grant and report the same to the selectmen, who will grant a license if the bounds are satisfactorily described, and no part of another grant is included. The price of the license, which runs for a period of ten years, is $2, and 50 cents is charged for recording it. No regular survey of the grant is made. Taxes are paid yearly on stock and working capital.
| Capital invested, | $26,533 |
| Power boats, | 1 |
| Value of power boats, | $300 |
| Sail boats, | 2 |
| Value of sail boats, | $500 |
| Dories and skiffs, | 8 |
| Value of dories and skiffs, | $105 |
| Scows, | 12 |
| Value of scows, | $790 |
| Implements:— | |
| Dredges, | 10 |
| Tongs, | 34 |
| Value of implements, | $313 |
| Value of shore property, | $1,225 |
| Value of oysters on grant, | $23,300 |
Owing to the shallow water, most of the work is done by tonging. Flat scows, 25 by 10 feet, are generally used for this work, as they afford excellent footing for the oysterman in tonging and plenty of room for the oysters. These scows, which have a capacity of 100 bushels, can be anchored by stakes or iron piping, and definite areas covered by the tonger. In the fall the oystermen make their "culls" on these scows. Chatham is the only town in Massachusetts where scows are in general use. Dredging is done only to a limited extent by 3 oystermen, the others all using tongs. Twenty men are engaged from four to six months of the year in the oyster business at Chatham.
The production for 1906-07 was 14,550 bushels, valued at $23,987. The oyster industry has been increasing every year, the production for 1906-07 being one-third more than the 1905-06 output. The oystermen are unanimous in saying that the oyster business of Chatham is steadily improving.
No "seed" oysters are raised in Chatham, as no large set has ever been caught, and all attempts in this line have proved unsuccessful. All the "seed" oysters are brought from Greenport, L. I. These run from two to four years old, the larger oysters being preferred. As a rule, oystermen are forced to take what they can get when they buy seed.
The only natural enemy which infests the Chatham oyster is the oyster drill (Urosalpinx cinerea). The damage done by this pest is slight, amounting to nearly $800 annually.
Harwich.
No oyster industry is now carried on in the town of Harwich. A natural oyster bed once existed in Herring River, and occasionally a few oysters can be picked up at the present time; but the bed is practically fished out. This bed once extended a distance of three-quarters of a mile in the lower part of the river.
In 1824 an act was passed to prevent "the wilful destruction of oysters and other shellfish in the town of Harwich," which shows that even as early as 1824 the natural bed in Herring River was on the verge of depletion.