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Waters off Devereux and Tuckers beaches reopened to shellfish harvesting at sunrise Oct. 3, after the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries changed the area’s status for the season.
The opening runs through April 30, 2027, according to the division’s notice, which Select Board Chair Dan Fox read at the board’s Oct. 14 meeting. The decision was the state’s; the board took no vote and was required only to announce it.
The division classifies the area as “conditionally approved,” meaning its status shifts with the season. After re-examining the waters, the division determined the area now meets the established criteria for harvesting shellfish for direct human consumption, the notice said.
As read, the notice did not describe the area’s boundaries or name the species covered. A 2013 version of the announcement, recorded in Select Board minutes, identified the site as “Area N21.2 or commonly known as Devereux and Tuckers Beaches” and opened it “for the recreational harvesting of surf clams.”
The state opening does not replace local rules. Marblehead’s shellfish constables check that diggers are “properly licensed and that only legal-size clams are harvested,” according to the town website, which does not list permit fees or harvest limits.
Harvesters can reach the constables through Abbot Hall at 781-631-0000.
