Gardner's Wharf Seafood Aligned In Local Fishing Networks [videos]

Sights and smells of fresh seafood and shellfish invade the senses as soon as one enters in North Kingstown.

Dozens of lobsters await their fate in tanks to the left. Iced-down oysters, quahogs and steamers are at the rear of the store. Filleted fish of several species await inspection and purchase behind glass cases.  

There are Point Judith scallops and Digby BaysScallops; jumbo shrimp and Gulf Shrimp; Gardners clam cakes and Maryland clam cakes; striped bass and wild Alaskan Coho salmon; flounder, bluefish and mackarel, stuffies and more.

Several hours before the opening of Gardner's Wharf, local fishermen and shellfishermen had already been out on the water, in the water or along the shore, setting and checking lobster traps, catching fish or harvesting shellfish.

Many local fishermen will reap rewards for this ardous work, says owner Pete Chevalier. From midday on, boats start pulling up to unload their catch of the day behind the store at the store-owned dock. “The fishermen and shellfishermen who come here work in the bay every day, bring in their catch and we will pay them as well or better than anyone else,” he says.

“We also go to the Fish Pier in Boston where we buy fish that is not available around here such as swordfish, tuna and shrimp,” he says. “I have a guy in New Bedford who buys flounder and cod at the auction there, takes our order, buys the fish, cuts, fillets them and cleans them and we will have fresh fish before noon.”

Chevalier says shellfishermen also go out early to get shellfish by boat. Others manually harvest shellfish with bullrakes or small sticks on clam flats, or by diving into shallow water.

A machine automatically sorts out the little necks, cherry stones, quahogs and steamers by size as they tumble downward into bags. Hundreds of bags per week, some as large as a bushel, are packed with shellfish of several sizes. They are then refrigerated to keep fresh for wholesale shipment, to sell in the store, or stored for retail orders for shipment nationwide.

But the economic climate concerns Chevalier who established Gardner's Wharf Seafood in North Kingstown eight years ago and later added a store in Warwick. 

“The industry has decreased,” he says of shellfishing. “There has been a 60 percent decline in productivity. And it used to be 80 percent shellfish and lobsters and 20 percent retail. That has been reversed. There has been a decline in the fishery and guys are getting older, too. In 2003, I used to see 40 guys a day and now it’s down to 10 to 15 guys.”

"We used to buy thousands of pounds a week of local fish a week and now we’re buying much less,” he continues. “There is a different market for it now, but our price we offer to buy the fish and to sell is still as good as anyone else,” he says.

He shows a map where most shellfish are harvested. “The area of greatest productivity is in the upper Narragansett Bay," pointing to East Greenwich and North Kingstown. “There is competition from surrounding states such as Connecticut and Massachusetts now whereas Narragansett Bay used to be the premier provider of shellfish.”

He encourages young men and women to get a student license and continue working on the clam flats or along the shore. Otherwise getting a regular license is difficult with a lottery system for just a few spots annually in place. “And you don’t need a boat to do this type of work,” he says. “You can use a short stick, dive or snorkel.”

Chevalier has another connection to the shellfish scene. “We also provide free upweller space for those in aquaculture and want to systems to grow oysters,” Chevalier says, “And no one else I know does that.”

Captain Russell Blank of Rome Point Oysters in North Kingstown was at Gardners Wharf recently after having harvested some oysters. He demonstrated how upwelling works, with the young larval oysters called spat attached to a cylinder where they will feed on plankton in water pumped by them. Once big enough, they will then be transported to various sites to grow to harvestable size.

“That is why we can buy oysters from him and can sell to others, even when they are out of season such as now,” Chevalier says of this mutual beneficial arrangement.

“We also supply free dock space to any commercial fishermen who wants to sell out to us,” he says, mentioning Steve Seymour on his boat, Kacey Liberty of Jamestown, among others.

Chevalier takes out 10 laminated licenses required to run his business. That includes a federal dealer’s permit so he can buy directly from boats, marine dealer’s license to buy and sell wholesale, food handling permits and others.

“I have a great time doing this,” he says of his two businesses, helped by many members of his family, and by local help. “I just wish it weren’t so expensive to do so. And I hope to expand so we can include a complete cooked meal.”

But there is charity work, too. A giant 23-pound lobster sits among its much smaller brethren at the store; its fate resting in the hands of generous people.

“We are trying to raise funds for the Soldiers and Airmen Emergency Relief Fund out of Quonset to save ‘Mr. Lobster’,” Chevalier says. ”All the proceeds are going to the servicemen and if we meet our goal of $2,500- which I think we can do- we’ll set the lobster free.”

“I don’t think that any other sea food establishment does as much as we do,” he proudly says. “Shellfish, lobsters, fresh fish, head fish, whole fish, aquaculture- we do it all here.”

Gardner's Wharf Seafood, 170 Main St.,
Wickford, RI 02852, 295-4600

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