The Essential Rhode Island Quahog Guide
Everything you need to know about harvesting, cooking and eating the Ocean State's favorite clam.
Photograph by Jamie Coelho.
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 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
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, Tiverton
Colt State Park, Bristol
Rocky Point Park, Warwick
Photograph by Julia Hopkins.
Know the Rules
What you need to know before 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.
Fun Fact: In order to be harvested, a quahog must have a minimum one-inch hinge width to its shell.
