Tisbury celebrated its fourth annual Family Shellfish Day, Saturday, June 22. The event was hosted in an area reserved for recreational shellfishermen, according to Tisbury shellfish constable Danielle Ewart, between Winds Up! and the Lagoon launch ramp.
With the sun shining after a week of unpredictable weather, more than 60 people from around the world turned out for the family-focused event. Everyone, from locals who had never shellfished before, to guests from London, England, and Portland, Ore., were introduced to clamming and shellfishing, Ewart wrote in an email to The Times — and everyone left with enough quahogs for dinner.
According to Ewart, “The purpose of Shellfish Day is to introduce people to shellfishing and our natural resources.”
Volunteers, and the Tisbury shellfish department, helped to provide supplies, expertise, and education to those in attendance. Beyond supplying rakes and baskets, those attending the event were taught how to hold a rake, measure a clam, and how to identify differences between littlenecks, cherrystones, and chowder-size clams. There were also swimming pools set up with spider crabs, green crabs, and scallops, to teach children and adults alike about local predators and shellfish, Ewart told The Times in an email.
“Watching all these people have such a great time was a lot of fun,” Ewart said.
