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Aquaculture Has the Potential to Net Rhode Island MillionsBy U.S. Senator Jack Reed With over 400 miles of coastline, Narragansett Bay, and the coastal salt ponds, Rhode Island is well suited to become a national model of aquaculture. Sustainable aquaculture is good for the environment, good for the economy, and can help improve water quality. It is also the fastest-expanding animal food producing sector in the world. Cultivating oysters, scallops, and other shellfish that can thrive in the Bay gives Rhode Island the unique opportunity to claim a stake in this rapidly growing global industry. By further develop-ing our local aquaculture industry, we can create new jobs for coastal communities, increase regional food supply and security, and reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign seafood imports. In 2002, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) initiated the Rhode Island Aquaculture Initiative (RIAI), a collaborative effort among our state’s coastal managers, educational and research institutions, and aquaculture farmers. The initiative has yielded extraordinary results. At the time that the RIAI was established, the Ocean State ranked at or near the bottom in terms of domestic aquaculture production. This initiative has increased the breadth and depth of the aquaculture industry throughout the state to create jobs and promote ecologically sustain-able development. As a result, Rhode Island’s aquaculture production has almost doubled, our universities have done significant aquaculture research, and CRMC was able to develop regulations to support the industry. Today, the gross value of the state’s aquaculture harvest is almost $13,000 per acre, and the state is a model for the growth of the aquaculture industry. The initiative is also supporting innovative ways to support marine research and environmental stewardship. Roger Williams University (RWU) has used federal funding to develop economically and environmentally sustainable aquaculture programs for three distinct tropical fish species—clown-fish, seahorses, and fire shrimp. New England is the major U.S. market for these species, a market that is currently filled in large part by foreign imports often collected at a high cost to marine habitats. RWU is in the process of transferring techniques and processes to local entrepreneurs preparing to launch the state’s first tropical fish production company. The funding is also supporting seed clams in hatcheries that are then replanted on public grounds to boost the adult clam population and add to the ecological diversity of the Bay. By recruiting private citizens to raise seedlings off their own piers and replant them in Narragansett Bay, this project is enlisting more Rhode Islanders in the effort to preserve our waters. Today, the RIAI continues to sow the seeds of success that will help enhance our local economy for many years to come.
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