Pipi

How to identify pipi

• A smooth, evenly oval shell with no ribs, usually 50–65 mm long when fully grown.
• The hinge (where the two halves join) sits near the middle of the top edge.
• Lives in sandy banks near harbour and estuary mouths with a strong current, not on open surf beaches.

Pipi belong to the surf clam family, along with tuatua and toheroa. All have smooth, wedge-shaped shells with no ribs, which is the quickest way to tell them from a cockle, whose shell is round and plump with fine ribs radiating from the hinge.

To separate pipi from tuatua, look at the shape and the hinge. A pipi shell is more evenly oval, and the hinge (the point where the two halves join) sits near the middle of the top edge. Tuatua are larger and more triangular, with the hinge more sharply angled. Where you find them also helps: pipi live in sandy banks near harbour and estuary mouths with a strong current, while tuatua live on open ocean beaches with surf.

Where it lives in New Zealand

Pipi live in sheltered beaches, bays and estuaries, especially in coarse shell sand at harbour mouths where waves and currents keep the silt out. They are found from the intertidal down to at least 7 m in fast-flowing harbour channels, and can be very dense, at more than 1,000 per square metre in places. They occur right around New Zealand, including the Chatham and Auckland Islands.

Pipi can be gathered year round. Low spring tides give the best access, and summer holidays are the busiest time on the beds.

Many popular beds, especially around Auckland and Northland, are closed or have lower limits. Fisheries New Zealand has monitored pipi and cockle beds on northern beaches since the 1990s because they are close to towns and easily overfished. The latest survey, for 2025–26, found pipi at eight of 11 sites, with numbers varying widely from beach to beach.

How to gather it

Pipi are gathered by hand. Wait for a low tide and work the exposed banks or the shallow edge of the channel, feeling just under the surface with your fingers or a small hand rake.

There is no minimum size for pipi in most areas, but take only the bigger ones and leave the small ones to breed: they are the next few years' harvest. The traditional pipi basket was woven loosely so that the small ones fell back onto the bed when it was swirled in the water. Count as you go: shellfish count towards your limit once they are in your bag, and see the limits by area below.

Respect rāhui and mātaitai. A rāhui is a customary ban on gathering, put in place by tangata whenua so a bed can recover or after a drowning; most people will respect a rāhui if they know about it. Some rāhui are also backed by an MPI temporary closure, and several current pipi closures began that way. Mātaitai reserves are managed by tangata whenua, and their bylaws can set lower limits or ban taking some species. Both are listed with the limits below, and MPI publishes the rules and maps for each customary management area.

Eating

Pipi are sweet and tender. Most gatherers leave them in a bucket of clean seawater for a few hours so they spit out their sand before cooking.

Steam them open in a covered pot with a little water or white wine, then eat them as they are, toss them through pasta, or chop the meat for fritters or chowder. Don't overcook them, or the meat turns rubbery.

Before you eat anything you have gathered, check MPI's shellfish biotoxin alerts for that stretch of coast. Pipi are filter feeders, so they take up whatever is in the water, including algal toxins and sewage. Cooking does not destroy biotoxins. Stay away from beds near stormwater drains and sewage outfalls, and after heavy rain, when runoff carries contaminants into harbours. Commercial shellfish areas are closed after rain for the same reason. Your regional council's water-quality reports, such as LAWA's Can I swim here? or Auckland's Safeswim, show where water quality is poor.

Symptoms of shellfish poisoning usually start between 10 minutes and 3 hours after eating, and include tingling around the mouth and in the fingers and toes, dizziness and difficulty breathing or swallowing. If you feel unwell after eating shellfish, call Healthline on 0800 611 116 or get medical help straight away, and keep any leftovers for testing.

Good to know

Pipi have been a staple food since the first people arrived. Middens around the coast are full of their shells, and Māori dried the cooked flesh so it could be carried home from distant beds.

Gathering has fallen sharply. MPI's national panel survey estimated that recreational fishers took about 203,000 pipi in 2022–23, against about 648,000 in 2017–18. The survey's authors put part of the fall down to closures and rāhui, and the shellfish estimates are uncertain because relatively few households gather them.

Pipi spawn into the water, and their larvae drift for two to three weeks before settling. They grow fastest in spring and summer, reaching about 30 mm in 16 to 17 months and 50 mm in about three years. After that they grow very slowly, and probably live no more than 10 years. Gatherers favour bigger pipi, over about 60 mm, but surveys of northern beaches find that pipi of 50 mm or more are now scarce or absent at most sites.

Questions

How many pipi can I take?

It depends on where you are. The daily limit is lower in the Auckland Coromandel area and in some mātaitai and taiāpure, and many beaches are closed. See the limits by area and the closures below, checked against MPI.

What's the difference between pipi and tuatua?

Tuatua are bigger and more triangular, with a sharply angled hinge, and live on open surf beaches. Pipi have a smoother, more oval shell with the hinge near the middle, and live in sandy harbour and estuary channels. See <a href="/tuatua/">tuatua</a>.

Is there a minimum size for pipi?

In most areas there is no minimum size, but some mātaitai set one. Check the details for your area in the limits table below, and take only larger shellfish whatever the rules.

Are pipi safe to eat?

That depends on the water they came from. Check MPI's shellfish biotoxin alerts before you gather, avoid beds near stormwater and sewage outfalls, and don't gather after heavy rain. Cooking does not destroy biotoxins.

How do you clean pipi before cooking?

Leave them in a bucket of clean seawater for a few hours so they spit out their sand, then rinse and steam them open.