For hundreds of years the mouth of the North and South Rivers provided people with a bounty of food in the form of shellfish. Softshell clams (Mya arenaria), blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), snails, crabs and lobsters can all be found in the flats and shallow waters where the river meets the sea. Evidence of Native Americans has been uncovered along the riverbanks in the form of middens, or dumping sites for refuse like clam shells.

In 1907 it was estimated that the total harvest of clams for home consumption was about 400 bushels for the towns of Scituate and Marshfield. By 1965 nearly 1000 bushels were taken per year by families in these towns. Commercial digging in Marshfield added almost another 300 bushels to the total harvest. In addition, 10,700 bushels of blue mussels were taken from the riverbed, representing a relatively new fishery for this area.

The NSRWA has worked hard to pinpoint major sources of contamination in order to make the clam fishery available to the public. The flats were closed for several years until 1991, when they were re-opened after it was determined that the coliform counts were below the threshold for safe consumption.

Massachussetts Division of Marine Fisheries provides the following shellfish maps.

North River Shellfish Map

South River Shellfish Map