WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • JUNE 2019 55 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 56) commercial oyster farm. That 0.4ha farm was gradually expanded and is now intrinsically integrated with the Matunuck Oyster Bar (MOB). “In Rhode Island we have a lot of advantages,” says Raso. “The climate allows yearround harvest of our product; we are located between two major markets, Boston and New York; we have the advantage of established infrastructure for shipping seafood with Point Judith being the second largest producer of seafood on the East Coast. Finally, our oysters are sought after and have very strong demand in these major markets.” The Matunuck Oyster Farm The MOF started as a 0.4-ha farm in 2002 with some foundational support from the State of Rhode Island’s Aquaculture Education Initiative. The farm is located on Potter Pond, one of the state’s southern brackishwater coastal ponds. The 1.2-m water depth, quiet waters, daily tidal influx of algae and ease of access makes it a fitting site for the establishment of a shellfish nursery and grow-out operation. In a few years the farm expanded to 1.2 ha and is now a 2.8-ha shellfish farm. The Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica is the primary farmed species, with some sections of the farm dedicated to bay scallops Argopecten irradians. At any given time, from 12-17 million shellfish are present on the farm. In collaboration with Salt Pond Oysters (SPO), another Rhode Island oyster grower, MOF acquires yearly about 20 million oyster seed (1-mm shell length) from hatcheries and raises them in a nursery system. The nursery is located in an adjacent brackishwater pond (Point Judith Pond) and consists of a combination of traditionally FLUPSY-style upwellers and a paddlewheel upweller. Seed are deployed in the nursery system in early May and maintained between 7 and 16 weeks until juvenile oysters are sufficiently large to be transferred to the farm (about 15-mm shell length). The phytoplankton-rich waters of the pond support optimal growth in the nursery system with seed mortality rates around 20-40 percent. Two oyster grow-out technologies are currently utilized on the farm: an in-house designed floating cage system and a bottom tray system. Floating cages (1.8 m long × 0.75 m wide × 0.6 m deep) can accommodate from 6 to 9 ADPI bags. This system is primarily used for rearing first-year oysters. At the start of the growing season (early summer) juvenile oysters from the nursery are transferred to 9-mm mesh bags and stocked with 1,200 animals per bag. In addition to isolating oysters from mudcrabs, the main predator on the farm, this system also takes advantage of turbulence from waves and tides to move the oysters within the bags, creating a natural and gentle tumbling that promotes uniform oyster shell growth and a desirable Perry Raso, founder and operator of the Matunuck Oyster Farm and Matunuck Oyster Bar. Raso inspecting second year oysters in the bottom tray system. “The climate allows year-round harvest of our product; we are located between two major markets, Boston and New York; we have the advantage of established infrastructure for shipping seafood with Point Judith being the second largest producer of seafood on the East Coast. Finally, our oysters are sought after and have very strong demand in these major markets.” — Perry Raso
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