Bob Rheault, Executive Director, East Coast Shellfish Growers Association Topic: Growing the Crop

1. East Coast Shellfish
Aquaculture
Status and Trends
Production Value
and Ecosystem Services
Bob Rheault
Executive Director
East Coast Shellfish Growers Association
bob@ECSGA.org

2. Data Disclaimer
Data are collected from a wide variety of
sources
Some recent – some not so much
Some quite accurate – some is an
“educated guesstimate”

3. Thanks to:
Chris Davis
Dana Morse
Sebastian Belle
Rich Langan
Ray Grizzle
Jerry Moles
Dave Beutel
Tessa Getchis
Dave Carey
Gregg Rivara
Bill Hastback
Gef Flimlin
Walt Canzonier
Karl Roscher
Mike Oesterling
Karen Hudson
Tom Murray
Stan Allen
Michael Cosgrove
Marc Turano
Nancy Hadley
Leslie Sturmer
Several published reports
USDA Aquaculture Census

4. 2012 East Coast
Shellfish Industry Snapshot
• About 1000 small farms
• ~30 with more than 10 employees
• 60% clams, 39% oysters, 1% mussels
•~ $ 120 Million in sales
(up from $93M in ’09 – most growth in oysters)

6. Maine Production
• 2005 77 farms $ 2.8 M sales, 57FT jobs
• Up from 1998 15 farms $1.5 M sales
• 6 hatcheries, $1.8 M sales, 35 jobs
• Growth in mussels – 8 leases ~ $1M
• MSX killed ~ 25% of oysters in 2010-11

7. Massachusetts (2012)
•$11.6 M oysters – growing fast
•Almost half from Duxbury on just 72 acres
•MSX hit Duxbury in 2010-2011 took ~50%
•$1.6 M clams – dropping
•349 lease holders
•1031 total acres

8. MSX
Massachusetts Shellfish
Harvest Value in Millions
14
12
10
8
Value tripled
In 15 years
6
4
MSX
2
0
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013

9. Rhode Island Farm Gate
Will top $3 million in 2013
3
2
Almost all Oysters
Growing ~20% a year
50 farms
173 acres
105 jobs
$16,360/acre
$2.84M
In 2012
20% annual growth
1
0
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011

10. CT Production ?
• Oysters
$12 M ? – 98% traditional extensive
bottom culture
• Clams $20.5 M
• 70,000 acres leased, but less than 1/3
planted
• 35 firms (2 dominant)
• 16,500 acres of protected seed beds

11. Connecticut Clam and Oyster Landings
1990-2008 in millions
50
45
35
Oysters
?
30
1997 MSX
25
Good
Set
20
15
Clams
10
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
0
1991
5
1990
Millions of dollars
40

12. New York
• ~$7.6 M in oysters ?
• ~$2.3 M in clams
• 3 Commercial hatcheries
• 3 Towns have hatcheries for
enhancement
• Expansion of small leases following
new lease law in Suffolk County

13. New Jersey Clams
• $2.6M price flat since 90s
• Leasing system appears “broken”
• 5 regulatory agencies in-fighting
• Hurricane Sandy did lots of damage

14. New Jersey Oysters
• About 12 growers using container
culture
• ~ $760,000 – up 3-fold in 2 years
• Expansion limited by leasing issues
(eelgrass, horseshoe crabs)
• Massive traditional shell planting effort
in Delaware Bay
Approx. $4 M ? landed value in 2008

15. Delaware
• Was illegal
• New laws passed this year allowing
first leases since 1930
• Where we were in RI 20-30 years ago

16. Maryland
• Traditional watermen have thwarted leasing
• 2009 Governor acknowledged that
restoration efforts were not working.
• Rewrote all the regulations and lease laws pushed for development of aquaculture
• Potential to become a major producer on
over 3,300 acres of leases
• Over 300 million oysters planted this year

17. www.vims.edu/map/aquaculture
Thomas J. Murray, Karen Hudson
Virginia Sea Grant, VIMS

18. Number of Single, Cultured Market
Oysters (millions)
30
25
28.1
Ignores spat on shell for shucking
23.3
$ 9.6 M in oysters (price remains strong)
Millions
20
$ 36 M clams (price flat)
15
16.9
Disease resistant lines
triploidy
12.6
9.8
10
4.8
5
3.1
0.84
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

19. North Carolina
• A few small intensive oyster growers
• 2.39 M oysters worth $266,000
• 2.2 M clams from culture worth $247,000
• Declining water quality from coastal
development
• Leasing hampered by historical eelgrass
concerns

20. South
Carolina
• 54 farms
• $287,000 value
(intensive culture)
•
•
overset issues
permitting issues
• Not counting traditional cultch
planting and relay
• Most oysters go to shucked meat market
or for roasting

21. Georgia
• About 11 clam farmers
• Wild and cultured clams not reported
separately
• Oysters and clams the only two
fisheries with increased landings in the
past decade

22. Florida (2007)
• 153 growers produced 185 M clams $19 M
• ($18M in 2001, down to $10.7M in 2005)
• Hurricanes and red tides (Indian River)
• Market competition continues to hurt
prices
• BP Spill suppressed market in 2011 by 30%

23. Overall
East
Coast
Shellfish
Aquaculture
Oyster production growing
Clam production slowing
Growth strongest in Virginia and New England
Potential for mussels if we can overcome leasing issues

24. Overall Value of the East Coast
Shellfish Aquaculture Industry
Harvest value $73M clams, $47M oysters
$120M x 2.5 multiplier = $300M economic impact
1221 full time jobs, 1294 part time or seasonal
What about evaluating ecosystem services ?

25. Ecosystem Services for Valuation
Nutrient removal – bio-harvest, denitrification,
burial, sequestration
Habitat enhancement – complexity and vertical
structure provides food and refuge, stimulates
abundance and diversity like natural and
artificial reefs
Turbidity reduction and improved water quality
Benthic stabilization – erosion mitigation
Larvae production

26. Nutrient Removal at Harvest
Each oyster contains 0.2-0.5 grams N in tissue
and shell protein – (clams est. ~ 0.3 grams N)
(Newell 2004 , Grizzle 2011, Stephenson & Shabman 2011)
The harvest of 550M clams ~160 metric Tons N
and 120M oysters ~58 metric Tons N
@ $13/kg = $2.8 million 2.3% of landed value
(Piehler and Smythe 2011)
@ $330/kg =
– 59% of harvest value
(Stephenson et al. 2010)

27. Nutrient Removal
Denitrification –
Difficult to quantify, variable in time and space Not likely at this time
Could dwarf harvest values (Newell et al. 2005, Stevenson
& Brown 2006, Piehler & Smythe 2011, and Kellog in prep.)
Could be insignificant
(Stephenson 2011, Golen 2007)
Piehler and Smythe 2011 valued nitrogen removal
services of NC oyster reefs at $3,000 per acre.
20,000 acres @ $3,000 = $60 million

28. Habitat Improvement
vertical structure and complexity
Valuation of the juvenile fish that survive or thrive
because of an acre of habitat with vertical
structure as opposed to barren bottom…?
Enhanced commercial fisheries landings estimates:
(Grabowski et al. 2007)
~$1,670/acy
(Kroeger & Guanel in prep.) ~$14,500/acy
Willingness to pay for artificial and restored reef
systems – $7,500 to >$100,000 per acre
$7,500 x 20,000 Acres = $150 million

29. Turbidity Reduction
Filter feeding activity enhances the flux of
mirco-seston to the benthos where worms and
amphipods can eat it.
Enhanced light penetration deepens the
euphotic zone and can allow eelgrass to
recover.
Grazing off the peaks of bloom events can
lessen the severity of the crash that follows.
Reduction in pathogen concentrations.
All very challenging to evaluate…

30. Benthic Stabilization
and Erosion Prevention



In certain areas this is a huge concern.
Homeowners are desperate to preserve
their homes.
Resource managers trying to preserve marsh
habitat.
- Spatially variable
- Tough to valuate

31. Valuations
Harvest
$120 million
Multiplier 2.5 x
~ $300 million
Jobs
1,200 full time, 1,300 part time
Nutrient removal (harvest only) $2.6 - $67 million
Habitat improvement $150 million
Turbidity removal
?
Shoreline stabilization
?
Carbon credits $5-20/ton
?

32. Conclusion:
The value of ecosystem services
may rival or exceed the value of
harvest.
Questions?
Bob@ECSGA.org