Moonstone Oysters’ production has grown at a rate of about 25 percent per year for the past 10 years.
Robert Rheault, owner of the company, attributes the growth to fine-tuning and new techniques that have improved survival and growth rates of the oysters he and his crew grow and harvest in 12.5 acres on Point Judith Pond.
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“Every year we learn more about what we’re doing,” he said; he has been farming oysters for 20 years.
Now Rheault is looking to expand his lease by 7.5 acres in hopes that the expansion will generate enough profit to purchase equipment such as wrenches, cranes and tumblers, which would automate some of the back-breaking labor it takes to hand-pick and sort the oysters.
“I can’t justify the purchase until we sell enough oysters to pay for it,” he said.
But Rheault doesn’t know if his lease expansion will be granted by the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council due to recent concerns raised by the R.I. Marine and Fisheries Council about the growth of the aquaculture industry in the state.
RIMFC member Jody King, a wild-harvest shellfisherman raised the concern, saying he thinks some players in the aquaculture industry are growing too fast. King’s alarm was triggered by an aquaculture newcomer who had applied for multiple eight-acre lease expansions during a four- or five-year period, he said.
As a result, RIMFC asked the CRMC to convene a working group “to ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the evolution of our aquaculture program,” said Laura Ricketson-Dwyer, spokesperson for the CRMC.
The working group, formed four months ago, includes representatives from the aquaculture and wild fishery industries, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, the CRMC, the University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, Save the Bay and the Salt Ponds Coalition.
“We have not placed any restrictions on leases at this time,” Ricketson-Dwyer said. “There is no acreage limit.” But there have been some preliminary discussions about putting a cap on the percentage of the state waters that aquaculture farmers can use.
If that happens, Rheault said, Rhode Island would be the first state in the nation to manage aquaculture with a cap.
“It will be kind of interesting to see how this working group … comes to consensus,” Rheault said. “I’ve got one view on how we should progress, and the fishermen have a different view.”
One of the problems is that the fishermen fear the aquaculture farmers will displace them, he said.
But CRMC contends that “in considering aquaculture leases and/or expansions, we do not permit aquaculture in navigational areas or where there is commercial or recreational fishing or in a location that would block access by other users,” Ricketson-Dwyer said.
King, who is also the vice president of the Rhode Island Shell Fishermen’s Association, sees the situation differently.
“Everyone in Rhode Island has the right to use the water,” he said. “And aquaculturists are infringing on the public trust by using those waters that are in the public trust. There has to be balance … between the public and private uses.”
King said that is what the working group is trying to achieve – to find a balance.
“We are very concerned about the ponds,” he said. “There is no room for boats to go across those [aquaculture] areas … and we cannot go into those areas without permission from the aquaculturists to dig.”
About half of the state’s aquaculture takes place in salt ponds, which are mostly in the South County area, Ricketson-Dwyer said. The other half takes place in Narragansett Bay.
But there are only about 100 acres leased for aquaculture in the state, she said. And the value of the harvests was about $1.3 million last year, an 81-percent increase from the previous year, when harvests were valued at $744,319.
“Aquaculture in Rhode Island … is still a relatively small industry,” Ricketson-Dwyer said.
Louis Ricciarelli, for example, farms oysters part-time from a dock in Wickford.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “It’s not something you go into and make a lot of money.”
Ricciarelli is also a fisherman, he said, and if he didn’t have fishing to supplement his income, he wouldn’t survive as an aquaculturist.
“If it was a giant moneymaker, you’d see everyone out here,” he said. “It’s a lot of trial and error, and there’s always the possibility of disease or hurricanes.” •
The process to obtain a lease is very inclusive as it solicits comments from a variety of user groups. As a public trust issue the aquaculture industry has as much right to use the state’s lands as any other group.