December 30,2006
By SYDNEY SCHWARTZ
The Patriot Ledger

MARSHFIELD

As a young adult in the 1960s and '70s, Lenny LaForest often paddled
out to the South River with friends to dig up steamers for dinner.

The Marshfield teenagers would bring home buckets of soft-shell clams
for their families or, as they grew older, to steam up a batch
themselves.

A few years later, the shellfish flats were closed to digging. Tests
by the state Division of Marine Fisheries had found high levels of
bacteria, likely caused by storm runoff, backyard septic systems and
bird waste.

The South River flats were closed in 1984 and after sporadic openings
were classified "prohibited" for shellfishing in 1989.

The North River flats were closed in 1990 and reopened in 1996 for a
few months each year, from late December until late April.

But LaForest, now a Marshfield police sergeant, the town harbormaster
and the shellfish constable, is on a mission to bring back
recreational clamming in the South River and expand it in the North
River.

LaForest and his staff planted two tons of hard-shell clams in the
flats off Damon's Point in the spring. Last week, the state opened the
area for clams and mussels.

They expect the South River flats to reopen in a few years, because of
improved sewer systems in town.

"I can remember as a younger person going into the South River and
just digging clams all the time," LaForest said the other day after a
trip to the clam flats.

"Hopefully, in the years to come, more of the area will be opened up
and it will be more accessible to more people."

The open flats, which stretch from Damon's Point Bridge to Trouant's
Island, are historically home to soft-shell clams along with some
razor clams, but the number of shellfish had dwindled in recent years
because of disuse.

LaForest said clams that are not frequently raked often suffocate
under the thick mud.

In some sections of the North River, there are several inches of clams
dying on top of one other because they have not been farmed, he said.

"When we first opened it up, there were very few clams that were
there," LaForest said. "We said, 'What good does it do if there's
nothing there.' We started to investigate the possibility of expanding
the shellfish population. It seems to be working out."

The new hard-shell clams – or quahogs – come from a contaminated area
near New Bedford. They cost $10 a bushel for about 150 bushels. The
state allows clams from contaminated areas to be harvested and
transferred into a new area, where they purge themselves of toxins in
a very short time, LaForest said.

Next spring, the harbormaster's office plans to transplant additional
bushels to the North River flats, he said.

The flats are checked five times a year by the Division of Marine
Fisheries and more frequently by the North and South Rivers Watershed
Association and the town.

The pollution level depends on the temperature of the water, the tide
and the runoff from houses by the river, LaForest said.

Beds are typically closed from late spring throughout the summer
because the water warms, enabling more bacteria to grow. During the
summer, many birds live along the rivers, and their feces affect the
water quality.

But the rivers are seeing less pollution because many nearby homes
have switched to the new town sewer systems.

In recent years, residents bought only three or four permits. Last
year, after some publicity, the harbormaster's office sold about 100.
Marshfield charges $10 a permit for a resident and $25 for
nonresidents for a year.

On Wednesday morning, LaForest headed out to the North River flats
during low tide with Edward Vacha, first assistant harbormaster and
assistant shellfish constable, and Mike DiMeo, a Marshfield police
officer working in his department.

They carried wire baskets and clamming rakes through the sticky mud,
crunching empty clam and mussel shells and searching for air bubbles,
evidence of a burrowed clam.

When they saw a hole, they quickly dug a small trench through about a
foot of mud, searching through dead clams and shells for the shellfish
treasure before they dug themselves further into the sand.

They measured each clam to make sure it was regulation size and tossed
small ones back in the hole.

In about an hour, the three filled a wire basket with more than a
dozen hard-shell and soft-shell clams.

Vacha, of Scituate, who is spearheading the project, said he never
clammed as a child, but enjoys coming out to rake up buckets of clams
to send to the Division of Marine Fisheries – or to take home to his
family for dinner.

H e said he planned to cook up the contents of the bucket for a creamy
pasta sauce.

"If you're out here for an hour you can fill a bucket," Vacha said.
"They're making a comeback."


Sydney Schwartz may be reached at sschwartz@ledger.com.
If you go...
North River flats are accessible from the end of Damon's Point Road or
by boat. Clamming is allowed Wednesday and Sunday on the Marshfield
side, Thursday and Sunday on the Scituate side. Scituate flats are
accessible only by boat.

Permits for Marshfield clamming are available at the harbormaster's
office, 100 Central St., Brant Rock, 781-834-5541; in Scituate, at the
town clerk's office, call 781-545-8744

If you have a Marshfield permit, park on Damon's Point Road and climb
over the rocks into the water toward the mouth of the river. Clams are
plentiful on the muddy sandbar between Damon's Point and the nearby
marsh.