What Is Aquaculture

Oyster farm waits for Mattapoisett aquaculture bylaw

MATTAPOISETT — Selectmen have told Jim O'Dowd, who has been waiting since 2009 for approval of his plan to create an oyster farm in the town harbor area, that he will have to wait a little longer.

Board members last week rebuffed O'Dowd's request for preliminary approval so he could begin his site survey work, saying they are awaiting the Harbor Advisory Board's final draft of an aquaculture bylaw that would regulate what he is planning.

O'Dowd said approval of his plan is ultimately the board's decision. "I'd like to submit a new proposal," he said. "Do you have any problem with the new location? I was hoping to start my survey work soon."

Selectman Jordan Collyer said the Board of Selectman is bound by its agreement to await the advisory board's input.

"It's in their charge," Collyer said. "Until we get (the bylaw) from them in writing, we won't go to the next step. The board made the decision to follow this procedure."

Town Administrator Michael Gagne said once the board reviews the revised language, a public hearing would be set for September.

Collyer said that hearing likely won't be held in the selectmen's small conference room on a regular meeting night because of the crowd it will attract. "It will be a special night in a better venue than this," he said.

Selectman Tyler MacAllister said he has seen only a map of O'Dowd's new plan, which places it near Nasketucket Bay. "It doesn't seem to be near any marked channels."

O'Dowd's original proposal was for a 2-acre oyster farm in the northeast portion of Brandt Island Cove.

Collyer promised only that if the board gets the bylaw back sooner, the board will act sooner. "To pre-approve this, I have a tough time with that."

After his meeting with the board, O'Dowd would not specify how the plan has changed, but he was clearly frustrated by the delays. "I first discussed this plan with the board in December of 2009," he said.

The bylaw, as presented by members of an aquacultural bylaw study committee, mandates a minimum 1-fathom, or 6-foot, depth for any new aquacultural use and a $100 license application fee. Initial applications, if approved, will be limited to a 2-acre grant with the possibility of expansion after three years of operation.

New Model for Aquaculture Takes Hold Far from the Sea by : Yale ...

In its Massachusetts location, Goldman’s company annually raises about 1.2 million barramundi, an Australian fish that spawns in saltwater, lives much of its life in freshwater, and is uniquely suited to fish farming. But it’s the way that Australis raises its fish that has won it acclaim — growing the barramundi in low-density concentrations in indoor fish pens, continually recycling the water and collecting virtually all of the fishes’ waste for fertilizer, and producing a moderately priced, white-fleshed fish sold in many U.S. grocery chains and higher-end restaurants. , Goldman discusses the technology behind his aquaculture operations in the U.S. and Vietnam and the challenges that global aquaculture must meet in the coming decades if it hopes to sustainably produce the majority of the world’s seafood. “Market-based initiatives can have a tremendous positive impact,” says Goldman, “and the combination of the right species and the right farming methodology will allow aquaculture to really be a very ecologically efficient part of the global food system.” Josh Goldman: True. The original development took place at Hampshire College [in Massachusetts] back in the early 1980s. A group of students who were protesting the construction of the Seabrook nuclear reactor at that point were asked by one of the professors, “We know what you’re against, but what are you for?” From that question came the construction of an on-campus, student-built solar green house. I moved in there the next year. We installed some fish tanks and began the journey of learning to grow fish in enclosed systems — what is today called closed-containment aquaculture. Goldman: Well, there was a research institute on Cape Cod called New Alchemy Institute. And New Alchemy was founded by two marine biologists who did a lot of pioneering work in year-round food production for New England. And one of their concepts was the idea of what they called the bioshelter, which was one of the early ideas that food production systems needed to mimic ecosystems and deliberately link waste products from one process to input new products. So we started to learn about and copy what they were doing, and then began to make our own innovations. Goldman: I began by founding a company called Bioshelters, with another New Hampshire college student, and we began to commercially produce tilapia in 1986.

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