Summer Update

Thanks to your support, we have come a long way since our movement started a year ago to oppose two poorly sited proposed commercial aquaculture operations in Tiverton waters. You voiced your concerns by placing Save Seapowet signs in your front yards. You sent emails asking the CRMC to change their aquaculture permitting process to include meaningful stakeholder input and to deny the applications. You’ve written Letters to the Editor to make our voices heard.

Our fight continues. One application, the Bowen commercial aquaculture operation (CRMC file #2020-04-037) is still being considered for siting in the heavily used shallow waters of the Seapowet Marsh Wildlife Management Area. It is unclear when the CRMC will review the application.

A year ago, we had no idea how the aquaculture permitting process worked. Now, we are better informed. Although time has passed, please stay engaged. We need your continued advocacy to raise valid objections against the poorly sited proposed Bowen commercial aquaculture operation in our valuable public waters.

Thank you,

Save Seapowet

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Here are some milestones from the last year that came from your support:

• The CRMC changed their notification requirements so applicants must now notify abutters within 1,000 ft. of the proposed aquaculture site. This was in response to the large public outcry over inadequate stakeholder notification regarding the two Tiverton applications.

• Created a unified community voice that the proposed oyster farms are poorly sited and should be denied by the CRMC.

• Placed a temporary hold on the Bowen application at the CRMC and prompted the other applicants to withdraw their application.

• The Tiverton Town Council, with support from the Tiverton Harbor Commission, and Tiverton Conservation Commission, passed a Resolution that asked the Rhode Island State Legislature to create a 1,000 ft from shore buffer zone in which no new aquaculture operations could be sited. The Resolution’s intent was to reduce conflicting use of public waters, protect the rights of the public to access and use the State’s waters as guaranteed by the Rhode Island Constitution, and protect the rights of riparian landowners.

• Raised awareness so State Representative John Edwards, who committed to supporting our efforts after attending a Tiverton Town Council meeting a year ago, introduced bill H8244 that would establish this 1,000 ft buffer zone as law. If adopted, this policy would have denied the proposed location of the Bowen application and future applications that are too close to heavily used waters in Tiverton and in the Sakonnet River. State Senator Lou DiPalma offered to help support similar legislation. The 2022 state legislative session ended before legislators could act on the bill but could be taken up next year.

• The aquaculture industry admonished applicants who do not respect Public Trust Rights of Rhode Island waters and industry best management practices. The Ocean State Aquaculture Association has stated they will review all new applications by its members; this comes from the lightning rod issues surrounding the Bowen application in Tiverton.

• Highlighted the conflict of interest in CRMC’s role as promoter, permitter, and enforcer of aquaculture. These issues, along with concerns about the absence of meaningful public stakeholder representation in the aquaculture permitting process were presented to the Special House Legislative Commission to Study the Effects and Procedures for the Reorganization of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council and included in their final report.