2012 Aquaculture report shows steady growth

April 17, 2013, WAKEFIELD – The aquaculture industry in Rhode Island continued to grow, making gradual and steady progress in 2012, according to the Coastal Resources Management Council’s annual status report, “Aquaculture in Rhode Island.”

n 2012, the farm gate value (the value for the product paid to the farmer) of the state’s aquaculture products increased 14.8 percent from $2.5 million ($2,459,761) in 2011 to more than $2.8 million ($2,822,734).

The number of farms and total acreage also increased, from 43 to 50 farms, and from 160.25 to 172.55 acres, a 6.5 percent increase from the previous year. The CRMC permitted seven new farms in 2012. Their first harvests should be represented next year. 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. The blue mussel crop, a relatively new product in the state, grew to 11,000 pounds in 2012.

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.

Five 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 2012. Restoration work is considered to be a public enhancement project, but the products used in that project were from the industry. The full report is available at the CRMC’s web site, www.crmc.ri.gov, or under Aquaculture.