Just Keep
DIGGING
ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAMIE COELHO TAKES UP A NEW HOBBY.
My husband has a lot of hobbies. Fixing up his 1969 Ford Bronco, brewing
beer, boating and quahogging are all enjoyed. With two young kids, most of my
hobbies involve theirs: playing Anna and Elsa, slinking behind trees for hide and
seek hijinks and playing water games in the yard. When there is time for me, I’ll
usually go for a run, read a book or watch Netflix.
It turns out there’s something more relaxing that I’ve never considered as a
hobby of my own. When a drastic foot injury sidelined my husband from doing
much more than sitting on the couch late last summer, I got the chance to take
up one of his favorite things for myself.
We needed quahogs in different sizes for the cover of this issue. Originally, I
volunteered my husband to go out and fetch them, but since he can’t do it, I hoist
the rake.
Early one morning, I load the gear into my car and drive down to his favorite
secret quahogging spot. It’s the type of morning where the sunlight glitters like a
disco ball on the surface of the bay — where the only noise you can hear is the
lapping wake kissing the shore.
I tie my old sneakers on my feet and balance the rake over my shoulder like a
pro as I walk with my metal basket down the parking lot scattered with besieged
quahog shells surrounded by seagulls. I make my way down a sandy path, wade
into the water and tie the rope from the floating basket around my waist. I force
the rake to the bottom of the navel-deep bay and scrape the teeth until I feel
heavy weight, then I lift and shake the basket back up to the surface. On my very
first try, I nab a couple of rocks, a tangle of seaweed and three clams! Into the
basket they go, and down the rake dives again. Scrape, shake, resurface; four more
quahogs ranging from littleneck to bull emerge from the deep.
The basket is filled halfway to the top with about as many clams as I can carry
(these creatures are heavy). I take time to appreciate the undisturbed world, now
disturbed by me. I predict future rivalries over this rake once my husband’s back
Where to dig
PUBLIC SPACES TO GO CLAMMING.
Point Judith Pond, accessible by
Galilee Escape Road, Point Judith
Potter’s Cove (East Shore Road to
Broad Street), Jamestown
Fogland Beach, Little Compton
Colt State Park, Bristol
Rocky Point Park, Warwick
on his feet again. Or maybe we can simply take
turns digging up the deep. But for now, there
will be clams for dinner. –J.C
PHOTOGRAPHY (TOP RIGHT): JULIA HOPKINS; (BOTTOM): JAMIE COELHO.
Know the
Rules
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE
GOING QUAHOGGING.
Rhode Island State residents: No license
is required to go quahogging but bring an
ID to verify residency just in case. Only Great
Salt Pond on Block Island requires a license
from the town of New Shoreham. Residents
can take a half bushel (almost four gallons)
of quahogs from non-management areas
and one peck (about two gallons) of quahogs
from management areas. Areas with
strict harvesting rules are called shellfish
management areas, while those without are
called non-shellfish management areas. This
harvested shellfish is not to be sold.
Non-Rhode Island residents: Visitors to
Rhode Island must purchase a license to
harvest shellfish (it’s $11 for fourteen days,
or $200 for a full year). There are separate
possession limits for non-residents for designated
areas. Non-residents are allowed
one peck in non-management areas and a
half-peck in management areas.
Non-resident land-owner: Someone who
owns residential real estate in Rhode Island
may obtain an annual, non-commercial,
non-resident shellfish license for $25, and
they must follow possession guidelines and
limits for a non-resident.
When and where to go: Check the tide
charts to make sure it’s low tide. It’s legal to
go out between sunrise and sunset. Check
the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management’s Office of Water Resources
website for water quality-related shellfish
area closures or you can call 222-2900 for
RI DEM’s twenty-four-hour announcement
of closures related to specific pollution
events. —J.C.
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020 47