at area restaurants, discounts at seafood
markets and two public events at which
quahogs are served free by the fishermen
who harvested them earlier that day. (The
2020 events were cancelled due to the
coronavirus pandemic.)
Although oysters don’t get their own
state-sponsored festival, their rise in
popularity has been a surprising boon to
Rhode Island’s quahoggers. Rather than
competing in the marketplace, McGiveney
believes the growth in demand for fresh
oysters led to an increase in the number
of raw bars and seafood restaurants with
quahogs on their menus.
Even quahoggers’ concerns about the
effect of the oyster aquaculture industry
seem to be abating. No longer are aquaculture
farms being proposed for sites
that have been historically harvested for
quahogs, perhaps because the aquaculturists
have learned that quahoggers have the
clout to ensure those permits are denied.
Safeguarding the quahog fishery not
only means monitoring the population of
quahogs in the bay but also paying close
attention to water quality so the shellfish
do not become contaminated with pollutants.
The Rhode Island Department
of Environmental Management collects
about 2,500 water samples each year from
300 sites around the bay and sends them
to the Department of Health for testing.
“Based on our history of monitoring,
we have a good handle on which shellfish
waters are polluted and which are
safe, as well as those that are safe during
dry weather but not during storms,” says
Angelo Liberti, the DEM administrator
for surface water protection who oversees
the water quality monitoring. “Unless
something unusual happens, there isn’t
a lot of change from year to year.”
Heavy rainfall, however, can alter things
rapidly. Because rain carries pollutants
from land into the bay, some quahogging
areas are closed for a week or more after
a certain amount of rain falls, including
parts of Greenwich Bay, Mount Hope Bay
and upper Narragansett Bay. That forces
quahoggers into smaller, less productive
areas until the pollutants disperse and
the closed areas reopen. Water quality
improvements have reduced the number
of closures in recent years, though those
reductions have been somewhat offset by
the increasing number of severe storms.
For the first time in seventy years, DEM
and DOH plan to open an area north of
94 Sand Piper Dr.
South Kingstown, RI 02879 $1,400,000
Wake up every morning with
sweeping water views as you watch
the sunrise. Located in the coveted
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list of this 1,909 sq. foot home
features natural red cedar siding,
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Contact Ashley at (401) 573-6961 or
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https://www.zillow.com/
homedetails/94-Sand-Piper-Dr-South-
Kingstown-RI-02879/110666173_zpid/
2 bd | 3 ba | 1,909 sqft
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020 109