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In the early 1800s men harvested and lived off the bays of the Long Island south shore.
While a variety of shellfish have been harvested ,the Great South Bay was primarily noted for its oysters.
From the mid-18th to 19th centuries, they found the most plentiful oyster beds north of the Chesapeake Bay off Long Island.
Introducing the railroad in the mid-19 century made commercial fishing a lucrative trade throughout the area.
The growth of this industry brought an increasing demand for locally designed and built boats that could navigate the shallow bay waters.
These were built by a variety of local boat builders along nearly every major river and creek.
The depth of the water, as well as ease of rigging and maneuverability, determined the design of these boats.
They were shallow draft centerboard sloops with wide beams capable of carrying heavy loads of oysters.
Beginning in the 1940s, the oyster industry went into a decline and by the 1950s had all but disappeared.
Eventually, the oyster industry was supplanted by the harvesting of hard clams.
From the mid-1940s until the mid-1990s, landings of hard clams increased each year, reaching a record of over 8,000,000 pounds in 1976. Today, however, hard clamshell fishing is considerably reduced from its peak in the 1970s.
During the peak years, clam boats seemed to blanket the bay. They often passed boats down from father to son through two or three generations. With power engines, masts and sails were removed ,engines installed in the hull and cabin slightly changed to still be useful clam boats.