To the editor:

Our coastal waters are precious limited resources that should not be leased to aquaculture without understanding what is being lost by the public. Our Rhode Island waters are held in trust for the public and must be managed for the best possible uses. Those who wish to take over a portion of our most valuable resource must make a compelling case to the public and pay a reasonable price for that privilege of using it for private enterprise, especially when other uses of the water confer more benefits to society.

By way of background, I grew up in Norwalk, CT which was at one time nicknamed "Oyster Town" and was the leading oyster producing region in the Northeast and may be still today. We fished, water skied and raced sailboats over the oyster beds as farmers cultivated oysters on the bottom in the traditional way. My late father had a summer job on an oyster boat when he was a student. Today, I buy locally grown oysters to prepare for my mom and often drive considerable distance to get them. I am not against oyster cultivation if practiced with sensitivity to other uses and users of our waterways.

Current methods of cultivating oysters are giving rise to conflicts with existing users that did not occur with the traditional way of cultivating oysters on the bottom seabed. The new methods, using plastic floating cages and metal bottom cages, can interfere with traditional uses of the water such as angling, boating, hunting and other recreational uses. Proponents of fixed gear aquaculture conveniently ignore the interference created by the new types of equipment or cite the 5 percent coverage limit rule for aquaculture in salt ponds. They don’t mention that the 5 percent they want for their farms is often in the most coveted and used area in our coves, ponds and shoreline.

It is also ludicrous to promote oysters as a solution to supplementing our food supply. Oysters are a niche luxury food, served in restaurants. Families facing food challenges are not buying oysters on the half shell in restaurants nor are expensive fried oysters everyday fare for most Rhode Island families. A family of four would pay $72.00 in today’s market so each person could eat a dozen fried oysters.

The industry likes to tout job creation as a means to grow Rhode Island’s economy, but these numbers must be scrutinized. Aquaculture farms give rise to mostly seasonal, part time employment with lower skilled and modestly paid jobs. Each acre farmed creates only a fraction of a full-time year-round.  Rhode Island goals of economic growth through blue industries will come through blue tech jobs that create good paying skilled jobs.

Oyster revenues and growth potential by the industry should be viewed alongside other sectors.   Recreational saltwater fishing contributes over $400 million annually to the Rhode Island economy compared to $4.1 million for aquaculture in 2020 (down from a high of $6.0 mm in 2019). Our traditional clamming sector generates nearly as much total revenue as oyster farming without disrupting our waterways. 

Towns and residents receive little to no benefit from farmed operations situated adjacent to them.  Nominal lease fees of $100/acre go to the state not the municipalities. Mooring fees, beach entrance fees and property taxes yield more revenue for towns than aquaculture. A well-run marina generates over $500,000 revenue per acre and many more jobs vs. fixed gear aquaculture. Oyster farms generate gross revenues of roughly $16,000 per acre. This is a pittance when one considers the value of our waterways for tourism, marine trades, angling and other industries.

It is true that oysters filter excess nutrients from our waterways. However, it is important to understand that most of these excess nutrients come from inadequate and/or poorly maintained municipal waste-water treatment facilities. A better approach to cleaning our waterways would be to clamp down on the sources of the pollution. In addition, the industry uses this filtering argument to place aquaculture farms in Type 1 water which is the cleanest water in Rhode Island.

When we are considering adding oysters back into our oceans, we must not conflate the benefits of oyster restoration projects with commercial oyster farms. Let’s have an honest examination of the true costs to the public by those who wish to take over a portion of our most valuable resource. The bar should be set very high for the public to give up access to their precious resources for commercial enterprise.

Fred DeFinis

Middletown