(Seagulls and gentle music) [water splashing and music] [Music and boat motor] [music] [music, gulls, boat motor] [music + boat motor] Well, welcome to my office.

[boat motor] I still think I get the best view of the, of the world from my office.

(Boat motor in water sound) (boat creaks) (Assembling rake sounds) (boat creaks) (sea gull sound) (Assembling rake sounds) (boat creaks) (sea gull sound) (sound of rake on boat) (wind sound) (sound of boat and rake emptying) (rake drops and boat creaks) (Music) A, a Quahog is an Indian term for a hard shell clam.

They"re separated into approximately four different sizes.

There"s the little neck or the count neck is the smallest.

People would eat that on the half shell.

You have the next size up, which is a top neck, and that goes on the top roller of the machine as it"s going down.

Then you have the cherry stone, which is a little bit larger than the top neck.

and people would stuff that, or shuck "em, chop "em up, use" em in sauces.

Chowder Quahogs are made for chowders, and they're also made for stuffies here in Rhode Island.

(boat motor) And I hope to never retire.

I have some older gentlemen that come and sell me product and they re literally in their 80s and they're an inspiration to me, because they keep on going and that "s what I" m trying to do.

(Boat motor and slow music) [music and gentle water sounds] [Music and seagulls] [Music, gulls + tools] (sound of rake on boat) [Music and gentle water sounds] (sound of rake on boat and deep breaths) A lot of those days that (sound of rake on boat and deep breaths) you figure, I didn"t catch anything yesterday, oh, it was bad, it was windy, it was this, it was that.

It"s going to be a repeat today.

Sometimes it just turns out to be a real great day.

(sound of rake on boat and deep breaths) Everybody"s got a little different technique, so (sound of rake on boat and deep breaths) some guys are good in the hard bottom, some guys are better in the soft bottom.

(sound of rake on boat and deep breaths) Some guys are good if it"s really windy.

(sound of rake on boat and deep breaths) Yeah, so I guess the whim of nature is your boss.

(sound of water and deep breaths) It takes care of, you know, it sort of tells you if you"re going to go or not depending on how severe weather you want to work in.

(sound of rake on boat and deep breaths) (Splashing water) (Splashing water and gentle music) (Music and sound of rake on boat) (Music) (sound of clams being dumped) (gentle music and sorting clams) It seems like I"m working over rocks right now.

(gentle music and gentle water sounds) Well, I learned how to feel the bottom by just doing it.

Just gotta go out and do it.

(Sound of rake on boat) The more you do it, I guess, the more you get to to feel things, but it"s kind of bull work, so that"s why they call it bull raking, I guess.

(Wind + sound of rake on boat) I didn"t know nothing, I just went out and did it.

(wind) Yes, yes, I know, I know.

(water) It"s gonna be a brisk one.

(water) Daisy, who"s that?

Who"s that Daisy?

Somebody, somebody musclin" in on our territory.

(Wind and water) Somebody musclin" in.

Okay, go.

You know, dogs are a great source of comfort for us out here.

And when people drive by in their pleasure boats, they don"t look like we're talking to ourselves "cause we" re actually talking to the dogs.

(water splashing and wind) (gentle music and bucket sounds) She"s gonna get breezy.

(gentle music and bucket sounds) Daisy, come here.

What do you think, huh?

What do you think?

No, no.

(gentle music) She"ll settle down once I start digging.

(gentle music) She comes with me every day.

If I don"t bring her, I go home to no shoes.

She will literally eat all my insoles out of my shoes, not my wife "s, not my daughter" s, mine.

(gentle music and boat sounds) Yes, I understand.

(gentle music and boat sounds) I do, I do.

I understand, so!

(gentle music) Go lay down, go, go on, go on, go.

I"m gonna switch rakes after this one.

This one doesn"t feel very good.

My other rake is a little bit bigger and heavier and different style.

(water, boat and sorting clams sounds) This is a stainless rake.

(water and boat) I didn"t use the larger rake from the start because I"m old.

(water and boat) Ah, this feels much better just because it feels like it"s actually biting into the bottom.

(sound of clams being dumped) Days like this are very humbling.

You realize, you know, how much you, you don"t know about the fishery because as much as you do know, you still, Mother Nature"s going, not today.

(water and boat sounds) I depend on the weatherman for morning entertainment because they"re very rarely right.

Sometimes their terminology is just a little off.

Sometimes they say light and variable and you"re holding on for dear life.

I love the weather people.

I do!

Nowhere in the world can you be wrong that much and still collect a paycheck.

(water and boat sounds) I can"t seem to get rid of thedeckers, no matter I go long, I go short, I don"t know what it is.

You know, so I "m gonna, I"m going to go down to my spot in the seminary and then if it doesn"t pan out real quick I"m going home.

(water and boat sounds) Yeah, well yesterday and today don"t seem to be award winning days do they?

Joe, I"ll give you a call a little later on.

>> Yeah, don"t feel alone Dave.

And Bo, stop throwing things at people.

It"s not nice.

>>Gregg left and I only threw a couple of things at him.

(sound of rake on boat) Sometimes you have the solitude where you"re all by yourself and other times you"re banging boats with other guys.

(water and boat sounds) There"s always the ship to shore we"re talking back and forth on a lot.

(sound of rake on boat) >>Probably looking at a reflection of his forehead.

(sound of rake on boat) So it"s pretty good group of guys out here.

(water and boat sounds) So I guess that"s what gets me out here some days.

You figure well if other guys can do it, I can do it.

(sound of rake on boat) (sound of wind, water and boat) [Music] And like I said, you can set your own hours out here.

(soft music) [wind blowing] (light music) (sorting clams) [Music] [Music + boat motor] [harbor and sea gulls] When I got up early in the morning it was pouring out.

I"m like, "Yeah, maybe I won"t be going today."

But next thing you know before the sun came up, the rain stopped and it said 61 degrees and I said, "Well, let"s kind of on the warm side.

I guess I"m going."

[harbor and sea gulls] [water splashing] Every little one that I threw back today, I always say, "I" ll be back to get you a later day," you know what I mean?

It"s like, "Okay, I"ll come back and get him later."

It grows, it spawns, it produces more babies, And that helps us survive.

That helps a sustainable fishery.

[water splashing] Back in "87," 88, I almost sunk my boat.

I, I caught so many clams that I literally almost sunk my boat.

It was one of those rare occasions doing this job that every rake came right up brimming, every shot.

We used bigger rakes back then too.

Every shot filled a bucket.

Yeah, that was, that was my best day.

That was by far my best day.

[Music] I"ve had a few good ones.

[Music] It"s days like that, that give young guys the bug.

Call it the bug.

You "re sore and you" re tired, and your weather-beaten and you can"t wait to go back out and do it again.

It"s very hard to explain.

It"s a very rewarding experience to go out with an empty boat, come in with one that"s just full of fish.

[water, music and birds] The average age of a Quahogger is in their 40s.

[water, music and birds] We have an aging fleet.

It's getting harder and harder for young people to get into this business really.

Now I"m going to get a little political.

[water, music and birds] So bear with me.

[water, music and birds] Daisy knows the spiel.

[water] But, ah, the state throws more and more at us every year.

And makes it a little tougher and tougher for young folks to get into this business.

[water and boat sounds] [water music and boat sounds] Ready to go home?

You wanna go home?

Huh?

You wanna go home?

Had enough?

You worked very hard today Daisy, yes you did.

You worked very, very hard today.

and you did a fine job.

You did a fine job.

[Music] [Faint seagulls]