Safe Boating

Shellfish in the murky depths

Roz Butziger
Posted 4/6/16

You love cruising on the bay, but what lies in the murky depths? Clams casino, chowder, stuffies, clam cakes – well, the main ingredient at least.

Without a thought you are passing over gourmet …

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Safe Boating

Shellfish in the murky depths

Posted

You love cruising on the bay, but what lies in the murky depths? Clams casino, chowder, stuffies, clam cakes – well, the main ingredient at least.

Without a thought you are passing over gourmet delights! The quahog is Rhode Island’s Official State Shellfish. These are sometimes referred to as hard-shelled clams, or by the Latin name Mercenaria, so called because of the use of their shells as money. A prime example is the wampum used by Native Americans. Long strings of shell beads showed wealth and were used in mercenary transactions.

When you heat up your chowder, think of the hardy quahoggers, who leave in their skiffs early on a wintry morning, drop anchor in East Greenwich Bay and put together the aluminum pole with a bull rake on the end. This they lower to the bottom and start the backbreaking work of raking up quahogs – and fast! They are not allowed to harvest after noon and have only a few hours to gather their 3-bushel quota. This is a $5 million industry and carefully regulated. Some parts of the bay are closed often in the summer, particularly after heavy rain when sewage contamination renders shellfish in certain enclosed areas dangerous to eat.

Luckily, these little guys are filter feeders, and can filter a gallon an hour, cleaning out any pollutants as soon as the water clears up. Actually, you can harvest your own quahogs. Rhode Island residents are entitled to half-bushel a day. As kids, we used to go to the beach and dig with our toes until we hit something hard. Sometimes a quahog, sometimes a rock. Dad would shuck some on the spot and eat them on the half shell. The rest went into the bag for chowder. He was always careful to bring the sizing ring. If the quahog could pass through it was too small and had to be thrown back.

Like soft-shelled clams, quahogs have a siphon which extends from their buried bodies up to the water where they take in nutrients and dissolved oxygen from the bay bottom. They are found all along the east coast from Maine to Florida. Not exactly a migratory species, quahogs may move only one or two yards over the course of their lives. Their spat, however, is dependent on currents and may be carried some distance away. As they grow, the larvae become heavier and settle down to the bottom in their new permanent home. Threatening the quahog are several predators. If you find an empty shell with a tiny hole it was likely made by the oyster drill or moon snail, but the most damaging enemy is the starfish. Their five arms surround it and the hundreds of suction tubes on their arms pressure the quahog’s protective shells until they open, and then the starfish feasts, leaving you a gaping, empty shell. Even these are used by resourceful Rhode Islanders as driveway and flower garden cover, ashtrays or for kids’ crafts. 

So – wampum, $5 million industry, family recreation or chowder, think about the important shellfish down under your boat as you cruise the bay.

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