September 29th – Give Input on the RI Shellfish Management Plan

September 17, 2014

Join Us on September 29th to Give Input on the RI Shellfish Management Plan

Please join us for a public meeting to discuss the RI Shellfish Management Plan (SMP) on Monday, September 29th, 5pm-7pm in Corless Auditorium at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. At this meeting, we will announce the completed Shellfish Management Plan ready for public review, discuss SMP progress and actions over the last year, glimpse into each chapter, and discuss future steps in an open forum. We also will hear summer highlights from industry leaders and get inspired from Director Coit. Refreshments will be served prior to the event. All are welcome, but space is limited so please RSVP to smp@etal.uri.edu

To view the SMP chapters currently available for public review, please click here.

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Thank you to our partners and sponsors: Rhode Island Foundation, Sharpe Family Foundation, Prospect Hill Foundation, van Beuren CharitableFoundation, Rhode Island Department of Environment Management, Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute, University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center, and Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program.

For more information about the SMP, please click here.

Aquaculture Sales Workshop

September 17, 2014

Workshop on Using the Internet To Grow Aquaculture Sales

October 14, 2014, 9:00am – 1:00pm
UConn Avery Point – Marine Sciences Room 104
1080 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT 06340

The Internet is becoming increasingly important as an inexpensive marketing tool, but many U.S. fish farmers are hesitant to use electronic media. The National Aquaculture Association (NAA) and Connecticut Sea Grant are offering an intensive four-hour workshop, “Using the Internet to Grow Aquaculture Sales”. The workshop will provide aquaculture producers with the knowledge and skills to use electronic media to showcase their products more successfully, grow their businesses, and help shape the public perception of aquaculture. An Internet presence is important for all sectors of the aquaculture industry including food fish and shellfish, baitfish, feed producers, sportfish, aquatic plants, and equipment suppliers.

The major portion of the workshop will be devoted to the development of individual websites. A website is one way to reach new buyers at either minimal or no cost. Producers will be asked to preregister for the program, will need to complete a pre-workshop form that will provide the information for inclusion on their websites. The NAA will provide some boilerplate information that can be added such as recipes, safe handling, etc. Experts will be on hand to help growers in easy to understand click-by-click construction.

Other social media tools such as Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook will be explored. Times are changing and there are new strategies. Facebook makes it easy to post new information photos and events. Twitter is a way to remind your customers and future customers about your products. Linkedin helps you grow your identity. These strategies are out there and they are free!

Space is limited, so register soon! The cost of the workshop is $20.

For information, contact: Connecticut Sea Grant
(860) 405-9127
seagrantworkshops@uconn.edu

Opportunity for Northeast Shellfish Farmers to Test New Aquaculture Gear

June 25, 2014

The Northeast Aquaculture Research Farm Network (NARF-Net) currently is soliciting shellfish farms to participate in a research and demonstration project.

The project is a group effort of the Northeast Aquaculture Extension Network and is based on a research and farm demonstration model originally conceived and developed by Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and Woods Hole Sea Grant.

The project includes the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York; it is proposed that up to five shellfish farms per state be invited to participate. Collaborating farms will be asked to provide space and assistance in testing new shellfish aquaculture technologies and to help demonstrate those technologies to the industry-at-large in their region. In return, the farms will receive equipment and support to install and operate the new technology and a small stipend for participating in the research. One farm in each state will be asked to host a demonstration farm day, where the new technology will be featured in a small open house workshop.

Technologies to be tested include using a “flip bag” oyster culture strategy in year 1 and growing quahogs in hydroponic media using a conventional oyster bag in year 2. The two-year program is funded by the NOAA Sea Grant Aquaculture Extension and Technology Transfer program.

If you are interested in participating, please contact your state Aquaculture Extension Agent (listed below) for more details.

Maine – Dana Morse (dana.morse@maine.edu)
New Hampshire – Michael Chambers (Michael.Chambers@unh.edu)
Massachusetts – Diane Murphy (dmurphy@whoi.edu)
Rhode Island – Dale Leavitt (dleavitt@rwu.edu) or Azure Cygler (azure@crc.uri.edu)
Connecticut – Tessa Getchis (tessa.getchis@uconn.edu)
New York – Gregg Rivara (gjr3@cornell.edu)

NARF-Net Coordinators – Dale Leavitt (dleavitt@rwu.edu) and Matt Griffin (mgriffin@rwu.edu)

Catching Dinner: Quahogging Lessons with Jody King

June 17, 2014

Shared on behalf of Rhode Island Sea Grant

A small group of people, rakes in hand, wade out into knee-deep water at the North Kingstown Town Beach to try their hand at clamming. As the rakes dig into the soft sand, something hard catches. One by one, quahogs are being pulled up and collected into a mesh bag.

“We’ve got a hot spot here!” yells Jody King, local quahog fisherman from Warwick, as he helps participants pull up dozens of quahogs in the first of three clam digging lessons that he will offer this summer at Rhode Island beaches. The lessons are hosted by Sea Grant as part of the state’s Shellfish Management Plan to engage the community and highlight one of Rhode Island’s most valuable assets – the quahog.

For many, this was their first time clamming, despite having lived in the Ocean State for many years.

“This is the first time I’ve been out in salt water,” said one participant, a resident of North Providence, who was eager to get on the water and learn how to clam – something, she said, she’s always wanted to do.

“You, as private citizens in Rhode Island, have the privilege and honor to go out and fill this bucket with about 200 little necks everyday for free, and take it home,” said King pointing participants to a large, orange bucket he uses to collect quahogs. “I encourage each and every one of you to find a spot on Rhode Island’s shoreline and fill it up everyday.”

The catch limit for recreational users is half a bushel, about 4 gallons, for state residents, and one peck (2 gallons) for non-residents, while the catch limit for commercial harvesters is 12 bushels, or 8 gallons.

“I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, and only a handful of times have I reached the 12 bushel limit,” said King, explaining how he averages about 175 to 200 days on the water per year, collecting an average of 1,000 clams per day that he sells at the market for about 20 cents per piece.

After King shared stories of life on the water and how he came to be a quahog fisherman, he showed participants how to collect clams using a variety of tools from bullrakes to ordinary toilet plungers, and how to measure clams so as only to keep those of legal size (1 inch).

“I throw everything back that’s not legal,” he said. “It’s called ‘job security’.”

Armed with knowledge and the right tools, participants waded out into the water, spending the afternoon collecting quahogs, and only being enticed out of the water with hot clam cakes from the Wickford Diner. Once on shore, King gave a lesson on how to shuck oysters and clams, and how to best prepare and store seafood.

“I didn’t realize how easy it was to clam here, and how many!” said one participant who walked away with several dozen quahogs for dinner for her family that night. “This was a really enjoyable experience, one that I hope to do more often.”

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