3 -in- 1 Gauges:

Shellfish Gauges are available for sale at the Marine and Environmental Affairs office at Phinney’s Lane in Centerville.

There are minimum sizes for shellfish under which size the shellfish must be immediately returned to the water and flats from which it came. These are state regulations which provide protection for the regeneration of the species. These minimum sizes have been determined to enable the shellstock to be able to reproduce before being harvested. To ensure that they can produce their progeny to advance the next generation, a shellfish population needs to spawn before the adult broodstock is stripped from an area. Here are the minimum lengths:

• The inner width of the gauge measures one-inch, which is the minimum size for harvestable QUAHOGS, a.k.a littlenecks or cherrystones. Quahogs less than one (1) inch in shell thickness (hinge width) are not permitted to be taken.

• The inner length of the gauge measures two (2) inches, the minimum size (on the longest length) for the taking of SOFT SHELL CLAMS a.k.a. STEAMERS.

• The outer longest length of the gauge is three (3) inches. The longest length of the OYSTER must be at least three inches for legal harvest.
  (There is a built-in allowance of 5 percent of each batch for seed shellfish harvested.)