Last season 34,615 gallons, valued at $45,345, were shipped to Boston and New York. Shipments are made in butter tubs, containing 4 to 6 gallons each.
The larger scallops in the deep water are from 2½ to 2¾ inches in length, taking 5 pecks to open a gallon of "eyes." On the flats are smaller scallops, from 2 to 2¼ inches in length, of which 6½ pecks are required to make a gallon. About 4,000 gallons were bought in Chatham by two dealers, paying $1.30 per gallon; the rest were shipped to Boston and New York by the individual scallopers, shipments being made semiweekly to New York. The scallops were shipped in butter tubs containing from 4 to 6 gallons, on which the express charges were: to New York, 65 cents; to Boston, 35 cents. The 1907-08 production was 20,000 gallons, valued at $40,000.
In 1905-06 practically all the catch were "seed" scallops of the set of 1905; only about 5 per cent. of the catch were scallops of the 1904 set. Owing to the exceptional cod fishing, only 15 men made a business of scalloping, going mostly one man to a boat, and averaging 3½ bushels per day after the scalloping "struck in," Dec. 1, 1905. The high prices alone made it profitable to catch these small scallops, which gave only 3 pints of "eyes" to a bushel of shells,—just one-half the amount yielded by a bushel of large scallops. The fishermen were all from South and West Chatham. The entire catch was estimated at 2,800 gallons.
Dennis.
The scallop grounds of Dennis and Yarmouth are common property for the inhabitants of both towns, while other towns are excluded from the fishery. The West Dennis scallopers fish mostly on the Yarmouth flats at the mouth of Parker River, and between Bass and Parker rivers on the shore flats. There is also scalloping along the shore on the Dennis grounds. These grounds are for the "pushers." Dredging is carried on at Dennisport, and the boats cover a wide territory at some distance from the shore. The town possesses a large area, which either has scattering scallops or is well stocked one year and barren the next. Nearly 2,250 acres of available territory is included in the waters of the town. The flats, which are of sand with thick or scattering eel grass, according to the locality, afford a good bottom for scallops. Were it not for the eel grass, the scallops would perish by being washed on the shore by southerly winds.
Thirty men make a business of scalloping in the town of Dennis, 22 from Dennisport and 8 from West Dennis. At Dennisport scalloping is practically all done by dredging, while at West Dennis scallops are all taken by the use of "pushers." At Dennisport 9 boats, 3 sail and 6 cat boats, with power, carrying 18 men, are employed in the business. Here also are 4 dory scallopers. At West Dennis the scallopers go mostly in pairs, using only 5 dories.
The dredges used at Dennisport are similar to the Chatham dredge. At Dennisport the scallopers open the scallops and also employ openers, while at West Dennis the scallopers do the entire work.
In 1907-08 the production was 2,950 gallons, valued at $3,865. Scallops were shipped to the New York and Boston markets, although the greater part of the catch went to New York.
The scallops taken at Dennisport are large, opening 3 quarts to the bushel. At West Dennis, where the fishing is done in the shallow water, the scallops are somewhat smaller, yielding only 2½ quarts to the bushel.