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RI Coastal Resources Management Council

...to preserve, protect, develop, and restore coastal resources for all Rhode Islanders

2023 Report: Aquaculture has slight dip but still positive trend since 2020

Oct. 17, 2024, WAKEFIELD — The aquaculture industry in Rhode Island rebounded in 2023 after two years heavily impacted by the pandemic, according to the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council’s annual status report, “Aquaculture in Rhode Island.”

Oysters growing in low-profile floating baskets

Oysters growing in low-profile floating baskets (Photo courtesy of Dan Torre)

The farm gate value (the value for the product paid to the farmer) of the state’s aquaculture products dipped in 2023, from $7.48 million in 2022 to $7.28 million, though figures are still much higher than they were in prior years (farm gate value was $4.12 million in 2020 and 2021).

While the number of farms stayed at 84 from the previous two years, acres farmed grew by 10.33 acres to a total of 384.32 acres farmed. Oysters remain the aquaculture product of choice in the state, with more than 10.6 million sold for consumption.

Oyster seed sales from Rhode Island aquaculturists declined slightly, from $796,403 in 2022, to $770,000 in 2023, though again it is still a positive trend from sales of $167,000 in 2021. Previously, sales had been steadily trending upward before the pandemic years – in 2017 sales were $260,175; in 2018, $243,250; and in 2019, $326,796 – but sales have more than doubled beginning in 2021 when numbers rebounded.

The number of aquaculture farm workers declined from 246 to 228. The combined value of aquaculture products for consumption and seed sales had a slight drop from 2022’s $8.28 million to $8.04 million in 2023. Again, however, this year marked an overall positive trend when compared to sales from 2020, when they totaled $4.29 million.

In 2023, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service worked with Rhode Islander growers to purchase and deploy a record number – approximately 1.7 million – of oysters at restoration sites throughout the coastal ponds and Narragansett Bay.

The full report is available at the CRMC’s web site, http://www.crmc.ri.gov/aquaculture/aquareport23.pdf.

 

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