Shellfishing the Cape includes a wide range of collection techniques and rewards. But before going shellfishing make sure to check the regulations for the town you intend to gather shellfish in and get a permit if its required (usually). The regulations let you know when, where, and how you can shellfish along with the limits on size and quantity allowed.
Gathering shellfish is a great activity and a really good family outing. You can hunt for your own underfoot, set out on a search or combine shellfishing with a nature expedition and a guide. Some success can almost be assured if you ask others (or the shellfish warden) and appreciate the bounty of the sea free for the taking. Shellfish are one of our greatest renewable resources if we act responsibly and with care for our environment and the life we seek.
Just a note. All shellfish should, for safety's sake, be eaten thoroughly cooked. All kinds of nasty diseases lie in wait for the raw seafood consumer. Having said this, some shellfish is remarkably good when eaten raw (Oysters, Razor Clams, Sea Clam muscle). The decision is yours now that you've been warned and have one man's opinion.
Quahog n., (Co-hog) By any other name: littleneck, cherrystone, chowdah; is a sweet sandless morsel from just beneath the surface of the sand or mud. You can rake them with a quahog rake (long handle, long thin tines close together) or dig them by hand or walk them up. Raking is the preferred method of most and highly productive for these hard shelled bivalves but walking is, well, more natural. Just walk the bars or shallows with your bare feet, feeling for a place just a bit more solid than its surroundings. If its round and smooth and heavy its a quahog or a mudder (mud filled shell). If its sharp and pointy, its a crab, jump off! Cooked (or frozen raw) they spring open and its all food (except the muscle when cooked. Too tough.) Raw, they are like Oysters but bigger and meatier. (Hint. You can find enough in stoney shallows if you are patient because these places are hard to rake commercially.)
Soft Shell n., (Pi**-clam) Long neck, steamer, etc. A long necked bivalve that lives from a few to many inches below the surface of the sand, 'twixt the tide lines. When walked over they...squirt or pi** water up and out as they dig deep for safety. Pursue by softshell rake (short handle, long flat tines) or by hand. The softer you approach the less likely their successful escape. Or...dig a hole and then search sideways pulling a side into the hole laterally (the commercial technique for searching leaves a long self filled trench). Fill in your holes when you are done!
To cycle out the sand (Oh, yes!) before cooking: hang in a bag off your boat over night, soak in a shallow tray of saltwater and cornmeal for a day, or soak in a sink of freshwater (!) for a hour before cooking. Steam and serve with melted butter and a cup of steamer water to rinse 'em off before cautious chewing. Don't forget to peel off the dark edge skin from around the siphon. "Some swear by 'em, I swear at 'em", anonymous scowbanger.
The Razor Clam is an admirable quarry. Possessing a fully retractable foot that can point and extend six inches or so and then broaden at the end to anchor and pull the flat shell to it, the Razor (named for its shape AND the edge of its thin shell) can dig two feet in the time it took to read the last ten words! You catch a few of these while clamming for softshells but rarely. They are sensitive to vibration and fast. Catch 'em by learning the shape of the slight depression above their siphon. Then approach with light step and either dig very fast or try plan "B". Plan "B" is to flatten your hand palm down. Place your fingers together and angled about 30 degrees downward. Place your fingertips about two inches from the edge of the Razor dimple and thrust forward through the sand quickly. This pins the shell sideways. Dig it out with the other hand until you can grab it. Then either dig it all out or pull gently until it lets go and you get it shell, foot and all.
I don't know what they taste like cooked but that foot eaten raw tastes pretty good to me. They will last a long time in a bucket of water. For your education, lay one on the sand and step back and watch. Amazing.
Oysters n., (Manna from Heaven) Harder to find, because of their desirability, they are the best! Harvest by hand from solid bottom or rocks or use a quahog rake with a box attached so you don't lose them in the current. You should always cook seafood. The diseases they can carry are horrific. Raw oysters are...well...spectacular. Otherwise, just steam and serve.
A little story. I've been to a place where the wild oysters are in beds thirty feet across. My guide said there should be quahogs too but we couldn't find any. After pulling up a clump of oysters big enough to fill a five gallon bucket, I thought to investigate the muddy rocks below. Not rocks but quahogs! Shell to shell and a foot deep. This is how things must have been before you and I and the other half billion souls built houses and got hungry.
The Blue Mussel and all others are food. The Blue is the best because it is found in moving water (the others may be found in saltmarsh environments which MAY concentrate pollution). You can gather by hand or rake or net. Rinse them off and steam them just enough to open. Remove the beard, if any, with a twist and dunk 'em in butter. They have their own, slightly smokey, taste.
Which reminds me. If you have a smoker and have never tried smoked shellfish, DO IT! In small amounts (like a lot of smoked foods) it is wonderful.
Scallops n., (skawl-ups, sounds like "trollops", says my mother-in-law)
"Bay Scallop", Aequipectin Irradians
subspecies: irradians concentricus - N.J. to Ga., 19-21 squarish ribs
irradians irradians - found N.Y. north, 17 - 18 rounded ribs)
Both Bay and Sea are a true delicacy. But uncommon. And the season is late in the year. Even if you don't consume these beauties from the wild, take the time to look into their blue eyes...their many blue eyes . . . and consider what they see!
If you are gathering, you can chase them by hand in the shallows or haul trawl from a boat. By hand is more fun and a LOT less work. The object of your desires is the muscle holding the shells together. Cut it close to both sides and saute' gently in a manner of your choosing.
Blue Crabs and Sand (lady) Crabs are everywhere. Blues are the target of most crab hunters. They can be netted or trapped (check regulations for size and quantity). Blues are most often found along the edges of salt marshes and muddy flats and shores. They are easiest to harvest at night. Bring a bucket, net and a flashlight. Wade the shallows where earlier you swam and try to let them swim into the net. Blues are quick with their claws so if you don't know how to pick them up, DON'T. (They can be held by a swimmer if you can get to one.) Their claws cut like kitchen shears. Keep all crabs fresh by aeration of bucket water or chilling because they die easily in a bucket overnight. Steam 'til red and don't even try to eat in a hurry.
For what its worth everything with a shell is food. Even the little periwinkles and the big welks. (but the exception may be: "green" crabs-long legs and tiny claws (eat seaweed), and horseshoe crabs-which aren't crabs at all) If you find something, steam it and try it!
If you wanted to take the whole family on a shellfishing expedition, you could engage a guide to take you around to find all the local shellfish and spend hours of exploration stocking up for a cookout back at home.
Return to Cape Cod Outdoors.
This page was created by Michael
Eichenseer.
