Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture in the Inland Bays

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1 Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture in the Inland Bays

2 What is Aquaculture? Aquaculture: the husbandry or controlled cultivation of aquatic plants and animals Husbandry Controlled Aquatic - application of scientific principles - inputs: extensive to intensive - freshwater, brackish or saltwater

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4 US Seafood: Import >80%, Inspect <2% $10B trade deficit

5 Background

6 Oyster Gardening Overview Who: What: When: Where: Inland Bay residents and volunteers Nursery culture of 10 mm oyster spat to juvenile/adult April to November all year for FTR Residential lagoon communities Why: Supply oysters for restoration/stock enhancement Citizen involvement and education Applied research & demonstration

7 Oyster * * * Gardening 2003: 13 locations ** * * * * * * * locations Rehoboth, IR & LAB Enhance populations Habitat for fish and invertebrates. 49 different species of fish and invertebrates

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9 One Day Workshop in June 2011 to bring stakeholders together to learn what s being done in other states and what s currently going on in Delaware. Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island

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11 Oysters Have a Long History in the Bays. Important part of Native American and Colonial diet Sold far and wide Bays extensively farmed in 1900s 34% of Rehoboth Bay (3,164 acres) 13% of Indian River Bay in 1948 (1,143)

12 Benefits of Oyster Farming East and Gulf coast aquaculture production 800 million oysters/year = $119M 357 metric tons of nitrogen removed 110 metric tons of phosphate removed Hundreds of tons of other nutrients removed by burial or denitrification 51,559 tons of carbon sequestered (in shell) 1.7 x 10E 15 larvae released each year 94 million cubic meters of water filtered daily Thousands of acres of barren bottom turned into productive fish habitat

13 2010: 73 farms; 6569 acres; $30M 186 FT jobs; 180 PT or seasonal

14 The harvest of 15 bushels of oysters compensates for the annual nitrogenous wastes produced by one person leaching into the Bays Photo USACE Norfolk D

15 Shellfish Aquaculture and Economic Development Diversify the local economy Full and part time employment Contributes to local seafood supply Potential for enhanced recreational fishing Eco-tourism Restoration of cultural heritage Ecosystem services have an economic value

16 Economic and Environmental Benefits The east coast states harvest about $119 million worth of cultured shellfish; 38 percent oysters, 61 percent clams; and 1 percent mussels. Coast wide production is growing at about 10 percent a year, with most of that increase being oysters from Virginia and New England.

17 Rhode Island Shellfish Aquaculture Lease Area and Number of Farms over Time Acreage Under Lease Number of Farms acres of leased aquaculture ground established 84 full and part time jobs, and $2.5 million in gross revenue in Rhode Island in This is one potential model for growth in Delaware.

18 Economic Benefits of Aquaculture A single acre of oyster aquaculture has been found to yield an annual gross income ranging from $15,000 $70,000. A single acre of leased oyster aquaculture bottom in Rhode Island yields an average annual tax reported income of $17,445. Based on one hundred and sixty acres, such as that currently leased in the state of Rhode Island, gross income from shellfish aquaculture in the Inland Bays has the potential to range from $2.4 million $11.2 million. Total economic impact has the potential to range from $6.0 million $28 million (based upon a 2.5x economic multiplier for shellfish aquaculture).

19 Environmental Benefits of Aquaculture Each oyster can filter up 20 to 50 gallons of water per day, thus clearing the water and removing nutrients by consuming them or depositing them into the Bay bottom. One acre of leased bottom produces approximately 750,000 oysters and can filter 15 million to 37.5 million gallons of water per day. One hundred and sixty acres acres, such as that currently leased in Rhode Island, could filter 9% to 22.5% of the total volume of the Inland Bays per day.

20 Inland Bays Oyster Aquaculture Tiger Team (May 1 st 2012) Mission: Maximize the economic and ecological benefits of oysters through aquaculture. Goal: Lay scientific, educational, and policy groundwork to introduce legislation to the Delaware General Assembly in January 2013 to allow oyster for shellfish aquaculture. Diverse Stakeholder Group Monthly Meetings with sub-committee structure Policy and legal Spatial Planning Education & Outreach

21 Tiger Team Representation Delaware Center for the Inland Bays DE Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service DE Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control DE Department of Agriculture Sussex County Economic Development Local on the Menu/Farm to Table Program Recreational Fishing and Boating Interests Commercial Clammers Future Shellfish Aquaculturists Public Input

22 Tiger Team Understands the Challenges but is striving to address all of them Competing with natural resources Recreational Boating, Fishing and Hunting Navigational Hazards Enforcement Not in my Back Yard Shellfish Parasite Issues Funding Issues and Opportunities More to come as we progress

23 Policy, Funding and Permitting Sub- Committee Old laws on the books that won t allow for shellfish aquaculture Writing new law and code that covers all aspects of this initiative Needed Permits and how to streamline the process What Funding is out there? First the law and code gets passed then come writing the Regulations

24 Message Let s work together to bring the shellfish business to the Inland Bays for the economic and ecological benefits

25 Desired Outcome Delaware State legislation that will allow shellfish aquaculture in the Inland Bays

26 Publics to be reached Governor and staff 1. Briefing 2. Photo Op 3. Fact Sheet State Legislators and staff 1. Legislator s Briefing Paper 2. Legislator s Reception State and local press 1. Press conference 2. Meeting with editorial staffs 3. Press releases 4. Feature stories 5. Photos 6. Interviews 7. Fact Sheet

27 County and town councils and public and elected officials 1. Power Point presentation 2. Fact Sheet 3. Flyer/brochure Businesses groups and other targeted constituents 1. Power Point presentation 2. Fact Sheet 3. Flyer/brochure General Public 1. Presentations/power point to community and civic organizations 2. Flyer/brochure 3. Events- Exhibit/display at Coast Day, Farmers Markets, etc. 4. Radio 5. Facebook/Constant Contact 6. Website

28 Chesapeake Bay Foundation s Demonstration Scale Oyster Farm

29 Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning: Oyster Aquaculture Siting Optimization

30 What is Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) Comprehensive, adaptive, integrated, ecosystem-based, and transparent spatial planning process, based on sound science, for analyzing current and anticipated uses of ocean and coastal areas. Coastal and marine spatial planning identifies areas most suitable for various types or classes of activities in order to: reduce conflicts among uses, reduce environmental impacts, facilitate compatible uses, and preserve critical ecosystem services to meet economic, environmental, security, and social objectives.

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33 GIS Planning Goals Decrease user conflicts, improve planning and regulatory efficiencies and decrease costs and delays, and preserve critical ecosystem services Reduce conflicting Interests High Boat use regions and pathways would be primary conflicting use. High density hard clam areas would consist of a conflicted use area. Conflicting uses would be exclusion areas for aquaculture. Optimally aquaculture lease areas would be located in areas with low conflicted interests or highly compatible uses. Places science-based information at the heart of decisionmaking. Emphasizes stakeholder and public participation.

34 Current Data Human-Use Considerations Navigational Channels Historic Channel dredging Marinas, public and private boat ramps, high use boat slip regions Physical Data Bathymetry Bottom sediment data DNREC Clam Abundance Surveys Chrzastowski (1986) Ecological Data Clam abundance and potential habitat Seasonal important Bird Habitat Shellfish Closure Zones

35 Data (GIS) collection and synthesizing subcommittee Determine what data has been collected and what data is still needed to form a Commercial oyster aquaculture suitability map (GIS layer). Synthesize data into a GIS layer showing optimal oyster aquaculture areas. Overview reported to team at June 5 th meeting First draft potential oyster aquaculture product presented to team Second draft product presented to team at July 3 rd meeting Third draft product presented to team at August 1 st meeting Fourth draft product presented to team at September 6 th meeting

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37 Exclusion Areas

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41 Barren Bottom Classification Rhode Island considers >3 clams per square meter to be the dividing line between productive vs. barren bottom suitable for aquaculture use. New Jersey considers > 2.2 clams per square meter the dividing line between productive vs. barren bottom. Virginia does not have any specific shellfish density standard Use public verses lease designation Maryland does not have any specific shellfish density standard

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43 Potential Aquaculture Lease Areas Version 4

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50 Questions? E.J. Chalabala Bart Wilson