Quahogs from Fall River are coming to Onset to get clean and get eaten.

During the what the state calls a "shellfish relay," which began May 31, the Wareham Harbormaster Department will be working to help replenish the area with quahogs from the Taunton River.

The shellfish are contaminated and need to clean themselves before they'll be ready to be eaten. Eighteen weeks after the relay ends, the state Division of Marine Fisheries will test the areas in which the shellfish are distributed to determine whether they're ready to be harvested.

"It's just to replenish areas that are easy for people to access," said Wareham Harbormaster Garry Buckminster.

The department is working with fishing vessel Kairen S. to get 1,000 bushels of quahogs to Wareham, and distribute them in the waters of Broad Cove, Agawam Beach, and Miller's Cove.

"Every day they bring between 100 to 130 [bushels]. It depends on how much he's catching," Buckminster said of the fishing vessel. "They're harvesting them, they're bringing them here, and we're transplanting them."

Ray Silva, who works on the vessel, said these quahogs came from a portion of the Taunton River that's in Fall River.  Silva said that the practice of transplanting shellfish isn't uncommon

"We do all the different towns," he said. "Yarmouth, Dennis, Barnstable, Bourne."

Buckminster said that while the department tries to do a shellfish relay every year, it isn't always possible because it can get pricey.

"I don't want to completely dissolve all our funds to do this," Buckminster said.

Fortunately, Buckminster said, the price this year is the lowest he's seen in years.