THE QUINTESSENTIAL QUAHOG GUIDE
Out On
THE BAY
AN INTERVIEW WITH QUAHOGGER ROB RUSSO.
Most days, quahogger Rob Russo wakes before sunrise,
rolls out of bed and makes his way down to the dock behind
his house with his dogs on Apponaug Cove. He boards his
boat, named the Zombie Boat, and heads out on Narragansett
Bay to harvest a day’s pay.
He was born into the industry and became a full-time quahogger
in his early twenties.
“My dad is a commercial fisherman so I started going on his
commercial boat when I was two weeks old,” says the thirty-threeyear-old,
who has been commercially quahogging for a decade
or more.
Russo’s dad was an offshore lobsterman before Russo and his
older brother were born, then decided to | | CONTINUED ON PAGE 105
FUN FACT
Female quahogs
can produce
between 1 and 5
million eggs each
spawning session.
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT: Commercial
quahogger Rob Russo takes
out Zombie Boat. Russo works
the bullrake on the bottom of the
bay. Russo departs from Apponaug
Cove. He goes for a swim after
a day’s work. A bullrake is full
of clams and rocks. Finding
a good spot to shellfish.
PHOTOGRAPHY (THIS PAGE): WOLF MATTHEWSON; (OPPOSITE PAGE): COURTESY OF GEORGE’S OF GALILEE.
50 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020