Newburyport is pre-eminently the clam town of Massachusetts. It produces the most clams, gives employment to the most men, and has on the whole the finest flats.
The total clam-growing area of this town comprises about 1,080 acres; of this, some 800 acres are more or less productive, while the balance, 280 acres, is practically nonproductive. Scattering clams exist everywhere, so there are, properly speaking, no truly barren flats.
The flats of Newburyport, broad, level and continuous, are peculiarly adapted to clam culture. The general type of soil is mud, varying from a soft, sticky variety on the west coast, and also along the shores of Plum Island, to a firm, hard surface in the great middle section north of Woodbridge's Island, where clams flourish most abundantly and furnish the best digging within the city limits. Here nearly 100 acres are covered with a heavy set of 1 to 2 inch clams. Altogether there are some 930 acres of this mud. Much of this, especially to the west and south, is apparently unfavorable to clams, being soft and unwholesome, but even here at certain seasons clams are dug extensively.
The sand flats include the shifting Hump sands that fringe the Merrimac channel and the Cove on Plum Island. These and other minor sections comprise about 150 acres. The Hump sands are quite productive. The other sand flats are not entirely barren, but practically unutilized.
The clam industry at Newburyport furnishes employment for about 175 men, although over 200 depend upon it for some portion of their income. The season lasts the year round, though on account of storms and ice the winter's work is rather uncertain. A good fisherman will, under favorable circumstances, dig several bushels of clams at a tide, though the ordinary man will probably not average more than a bushel and a half, taking the whole year into account.
The outlay of capital invested is comparatively small. A flat-bottom boat or dory, a clam hoe or two, and three or four wire-bottom baskets, constitute a clammer's outfit, costing altogether perhaps $15 or $20. As two or more men frequently go in one boat, even this expenditure may be reduced. The shore property in use, consisting of from 8 to 10 shanties, is also inconsiderable. Several power boats are used, however, and their added cost brings the aggregate money invested up to about $2,700.
The flats of Newburyport are a large factor in its economic wealth. During 1907 they produced nearly 55,500 bushels of clams, exceeding $61,000 in value. Nearly two-thirds of these clams were shucked, that is, removed from the shell and sold by the gallon. In this form, usually soaked to increase their volume, they retail for about 45 cents per gallon. As clams in the shell, sold for "steamers," etc., will hardly bring more than 65 cents per bushel, the process of shucking nearly doubles the value to the fisherman, as a bushel of clams in the shell will produce from 2 to 3 gallons of soaked clams. The income of the average clammer will hardly exceed $350 per year, but a really energetic and industrious fisherman may in the same time make from $500 to $700, or even more. Many of the men have individual orders from dealers in Lynn, Haverhill and the neighboring cities, while the local dealers ship largely to Boston.
The regulation of the industry by city ordinance is of very little note. Practically the only legislation pertaining to it is the law which requires every clammer to have a permit, but even this regulation is but indifferently enforced. The Newbury flats are likewise free to the Newburyport clammers, and part of the Newburyport production comes from these outside flats.
The history of the clam industry at Newburyport is one of constant change. Twenty years ago large areas on southwest Joppa were practically barren; now they are quite productive. The reverse is true of Ball's flat on Plum Island, which, though once of great importance, is now almost waste. Though no serious inroads have as yet been made, a slow but steady decline in the industry is distinctly noticeable.
Comparison of 1907 with 1879 (Salisbury and Newburyport).