LI Is history & NJ is almost all what you said .which is deperation .Conn is dredging & is all most all chowders ………… equipment .no one makes tongs any longer & I only know of two places on the coast that make rakes & rumor is one is closing . & there are hardly any diggers left in RI & that should mean plenty of product ………..nope , very little seed .everything being caught is chunky necks & tops ……… Chowders take 40 years give or take so the only ones coming in now are the missed or a place that hasn,t been hit …………… before divers we always had places we couldn,t get to .being depth ot solid rock piles .so there was always places that were like safe houses ……….. throwing off spat - to seed to product &&&&&&&& the icing IMO was following NY/ NJ , Indian River . when they went to the count . of course we also had small stuff , but when getting paid by the pound we would stay away from the [beans] because they didn,t add up into weight ………… RI bitched & bitched & we went to the count system...……….. I remember the divers leaving all the large stuff of the bottom because it wasn,t worth the trouble . they only went back & cleaned then out when that price went up & it was worth while …………………..I said 30 years ago that it was a mistake . but everyone in all the fisheries live for today …………….. how can you expect a industry to last when your main [& when it available ]only target is the seeds, babies, furture ; attached are photos taken today from the closed section of the Providence River ……..I dropped a dime & 40 minutes later DEM was still a no show
