[citation needed] After British colonisation of South Australia and the establishment of the Raukkan (previously Point McLeay) mission in 1859, the Ngarrindjeri were removed from their land, thereby becoming unable to access their traditional fishing and hunting grounds.

Famous Ngarrindjeri author and inventor David Unaipon (who is featured on the Australian $50 note) asked the 1913 Royal Commission on the Aborigines for a fishing licence, but this was not granted.

[10] From then until the 1990s, pipis were primarily used by Europeans as bait in South Australia, and it was not until Italian immigrants introduced vongole into restaurants in the 1990s that prices increased to the point of viability for commercial fishing.

[citation needed] The Cockle Train, the oldest steel-tracked railway in Australia, was built in 1854 from Port Elliot to Goolwa to transfer cargo from ocean-going vessels to river boats.

Originally 11 km (6.8 miles) in length, the line was extended to Victor Harbor in 1864 and is now a popular tourist attraction[12] During the 2008 season, owing to surging demand and decreasing catches,[13] a quota of 600 tonnes (660 tons) was introduced to manage the resource; commercial fishing was restricted to the Younghusband Peninsula, from a point 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the centre of the Murray mouth to Kingston, with recreational fishers banned from catching in these areas.

[16] An independent organisation, The Goolwa Pipi Harvesters Association — inaugurated in October 2009 — was tasked with ensuring the sustainable development of the P. deltoides retail and export industry.

[19] Owing to a recovery of fishery stocks, the State Government increased the commercial quota from 300 to 330 tonnes for the 2011 season, the start of which was voluntarily delayed until 1 December 2010.

[20][21] For the 2012 season, the state government increased the commercial quota from 330 to 400 tonnes and announced its intention to proclaim a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) section of the Younghusband Peninsula a marine sanctuary to provide some protection for future stocks.

[23] The new arrangement saw dozens of Ngarrindjeri workers employed at various stages of production, helping to bring cultural pride and understanding of their heritage.

[24][25] A small commercial fishery with no size or catch limit existed since the 1950s, harvesting from 100 to 450 tonnes per year in the 1990s, though this tonnage declined from 1998 because of contamination from algae biotoxins.

To share the resource and to minimise harvesting for sale on the black market, recreational fishers were allowed a bag limit of 50 pipis per day, to be used only for bait because of a number of biotoxin poisoning cases.

In 2011, following concerns that the fishery may collapse, the Department of Primary Industries implemented a partial season closure and minimum commercial size limit of 40 mm (1.6 in), although recreational fishing has not been further constrained.