The Rivers region is defined by three broad river systems that converge at Charlottetown Harbour. The West and North Rivers meet at the southwest end of the harbour while the Hillsborough flows in from the northeast. Though the mouths of the rivers are mostly within the confines of the city, they run deep into the rural countryside. The Hillsborough, PEI’s longest river, reaches almost to the North Shore, flowing through a mix of farms, forests, and wetlands.
The region has been an important oyster harvesting area since the nineteenth century. One of the earliest accounts of the Island’s oyster fishery, describes specimens “big as a man’s shoe” being pulled from the deepest parts of the Hillsborough.
The Rivers remain an important source of oysters for the public fishery and during the open season it is a common sight to spot dories upon the waters with their solitary occupant steadfastly tonging for oysters.
During the early rough and tumble days of Charlottetown, shuckers would fill little paper cups with oysters harvested from the harbour and sell them for a nickel in the pubs and grog houses that peppered the city. Toda,y there are a number of excellent oyster bars in “town”, but the shucked goods are a little more expensive.
Water quality is an ongoing concern, and oysters harvested adjacent to urban areas are relayed to unspoiled waterways where they are purged of potential contaminants.
