Ocean State oyster industry is growing

RAW NUMBERS: Jim Arnoux, owner of East Beach Farm, said his lease for the small area in Quonochontaug Pond is one way to grow and protect his oyster business. More than 6 million Rhode Island oysters were sold for consumption in 2013. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
RAW NUMBERS: Jim Arnoux, owner of East Beach Farm, said his lease for the small area in Quonochontaug Pond is one way to grow and protect his oyster business. More than 6 million Rhode Island oysters were sold for consumption in 2013. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Oysters, which account for about 98 percent of all Rhode Island aquaculture products, increased in value by 49 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year, according to David Beutel, aquaculture coordinator for the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council.
That growth is in farm gate value, which is what the farmer gets for selling the product to the dealer, which was about 65 cents per oyster last year, said Beutel. That price can be higher than 65 cents when oyster farmers sell directly to restaurants, he said.
The farm gate value reached $4.2 million in oysters for consumption in 2013. Additional value from oyster-seed sales brought the combined value of Rhode Island aquaculture products to about $4.4 million, according to CRMC’s “2013 Annual Status Report on Aquaculture in Rhode Island,” authored by Beutel.
Demand is strong – 6.4 million Rhode Island oysters were sold for consumption in 2013.
“Rhode Island farmers are getting better at producing oysters. The farms are more efficient than ever,” said Beutel.
Growth of the industry in the past six years reveals that the recent upward trend is consistent.
The state had 34 aquaculture farms in 2009 and 37 in 2010. The number of farms reached 50 in 2012 and 52 last year.
“I anticipate continued steady growth,” said Beutel. “It won’t be skyrocketing because of the process involved and the time it takes for an application for a lease. We’re leasing out public lands.”
All aquaculture leases in Rhode Island are on submerged state land, whether in ponds or in Narragansett Bay, said Beutel. An application that moves along smoothly could take six months because of the long list of agency and organizational reviews required, and if there is opposition, public comment adds to the application time.
That opposition has ranged from concern about oyster farms limiting recreational activities, which are generally not much impacted, to one actual objection because, “My dog swims there,” said Beutel.
Despite a lengthy application process and the few years it usually takes to work out the kinks and get a mature oyster crop on a sustainable schedule, the number of aquaculture farm workers increased 21 percent in the state last year. Rhode Island had 127 aquaculture workers in 2013, up from 105 the previous year, said Beutel. Also on the rise, even if slightly, is the number of acres cultivated for aquaculture, at about 177 in 2013, up from 172 acres the previous year.
CRMC approved a lease for a new 3-acre aquaculture farm in Point Judith Pond in Narragansett on May 27. The lease is to Ian Campbell, who will grow and harvest oysters, littlenecks and bay scallops.
One small, but groundbreaking, increase in acreage this year also approved by CRMC on May 27 is the first oyster farm in Quonochontaug Pond in Charlestown, a lease for three-quarters-of-an-acre.
“With any pond that hasn’t been leased before, the first lease has plenty of controversy,” said Beutel.
The lease was approved for Jim Arnoux, who started the process with a “commercial viability permit” in May 2013, which is, basically, a pilot program. That was a successful trial run, said Beutel.
The lease for the small area in Quonochontaug Pond is one way to grow and protect his oyster business, said Arnoux, owner of East Beach Farm, which is not an actual geographic place, but his collection of oyster farms.
“There’s less access to that pond than most of the other ponds,” said Arnoux, who has been raising oysters for 10 years and is member of the Ocean State Shellfish Cooperative. He has three other leases, which add up to 4.5 acres, to raise oysters in Ninigret Pond.
“One of the main reasons for the new lease in Quonochontaug Pond is that there are a number of events, like some kind of natural mortality from predators like crabs or starfish, or disease, that could impact one lease, but it’s not likely if would affect my leases in both ponds,” he said.
Arnoux has been shellfishing all his life and worked on commercial fishing boats in the first few years he was establishing his aquaculture business. About the fifth year, he started investing more heavily in aquaculture. “I could see the demand growing,” said Arnoux, who is a full-time, year-round oyster farmer.
Arnoux named his product East Beach Blondes, although he says they’re the same species as all the other Eastern oysters.
Production is good and his oysters are sold through the cooperative to distributors in state and out.
Demand is good, too.
“The number of raw bars keeps growing and restaurant use is good,” said Arnoux.
As oyster production increases in many places outside Rhode Island, those in the industry have to consider the long-term question of whether demand will keep up with higher production along the East Coast and keep the market strong.
“I’m optimistic,” said Graham Brawley, managing partner of Ocean State Shellfish Cooperative, which has six member oyster farms. “The cooperative has established a consistent year-round market for distribution of our oysters throughout the country. We distribute to the distributers.
“Our big markets on the East Coast are Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.,” he said. “Chicago is a good market for us.”
Quality and consistency fuel sales.
“The distributors we deal with expect a standard and a consistency and they get it from this group,” he said.
Brawley’s optimism is based on numbers and trends.
“It’s been a pretty steady increase and 2013 was our biggest year,” said Brawley. “We were approaching 3 million oysters sold last year from our six member farms in the cooperative.”
Rhode Island oyster farmers are also riding a wave of popularity for their product.
“Trends in the foodie scene have helped the market,” said Brawley. “We’ve been fortunate to establish ourselves in a niche market – the raw, half-shell oyster.
“You can see locally how many new oyster bars have opened up. I’ve noticed four new ones just this season and when you think about New York, there are probably dozens of new ones,” he said.
“We have great relationships with the customer base I’ve been dealing with,” said Brawley. “When production goes up, there are new customers waiting in the wings.” •

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