Aquaculture report shows steady growth

March 27, 2012, WAKEFIELD – The aquaculture industry in Rhode Island continued to grow, making gradual and steady progress in 2011, according to the Coastal Resources Management Council’s annual status report, “Aquaculture in Rhode Island.”

In 2011, the farm gate value (the value for the product paid to the farmer) of the state’s aquaculture products increased 5.7 percent from $2.3 million ($2,326,948) in 2010 to approximately $2.5 million ($2,459,761).

The number of farms and total acreage also increased, from 38 to 43 farms, and from 141 to 160.25 acres, both a 12 percent increase from the previous year. The CRMC permitted five new farms in 2011. Their first harvests should be represented in 2012 and 2013. Oysters remain the aquaculture product of choice in the state, with more than 4 million sold for consumption, up from nearly 3 million in 2009. One of the five new farms is growing blue mussels in Rhode Island Sound.

According to members of the aquaculture industry, four major hubs for the RI product market are Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Jessup, Maryland. From there, the product is delivered to all of the New England states, as well as New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Washington, D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Montreal.

Twelve Rhode Island aquaculturists participated in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Oyster Restoration in 2011. Restoration work is considered to be a public enhancement project, but the products used in that project were from the industry. The work brought an additional $534,068 to the industry. In 2011, the number of workers also increased to 84. The full report is available at the CRMC’s web site, www.crmc.ri.gov, or under Aquaculture.