types of Aquaculture applications
There are several different aquaculture applications you can apply for, depending on what you are planning to do and where.
Commercial Viability- The purpose of this is to test a proposed site to determine if it is suitable for growing. There are restrictions which include 1) a maximum area of 1000 square feet, 2) this is not an actual lease, 3) it is limited to 3 years maximum and must be renewed after 1.5 years for an additional 1.5 years, and 4) only one sale allowed.
Recreational- A recreational lease can be obtained if you plan to grow aquaculture products from a personal dock. It is a 5 year permit that is renewable upon review by CRMC. This includes permitting of an upweller unit at a personal dock, according to the legislations:
650-RICR-20-00-1.3.1(K)(5)(19)
This Recreational Permit is for the personal production/consumption of shellfish and is not for commercial harvest and sale of product.
Recreational permits. The Executive Director may grant permits for recreational culture of shellfish by littoral landowners as follows:
(AA)Recreational permits shall be limited to a combined total volume of forty-eight (48) cubic feet;
(BB)This cage(s) shall be hung from an existing CRMC approved dock in a manner that it will not interfere with traditional navigation;
(CC)Recreational permit holders shall follow all existing seed importation regulations;
(DD)Recreational permit holders are required to complete a CRMC approved aquaculture educational program;
(EE)All gear used under an education permit will be legibly marked with the letters “CRMC” and the CRMC permit number; and
(FF)Recreational permits will be only in areas of approved waters as defined by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program.
650-RICR-20-00-1.3.1(K)(1)(k)
This Recreational Permit is for the nursery phase of a commercial lease holder.
Upweller units at CRMC permitted residential docks, piers and floats may be reviewed as a Category A activity provided that:
(1) Only current Council-approved aquaculture lease holders may propose to utilize upweller units at residential docks; (2) The inclusion of an upweller is incidental to the permitted use of the dock, pier, or float, and the original use of the structure not be inhibited by the inclusion of an upweller; (3) All shellfish from the addition of an upweller belong to a licensed CRMC aquaculture leaseholder and that the production from the upweller will go to the owner’s lease site; and (4) All applicable Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Rhode Island Department of Health Regulations are followed.Education/research permit- CRMC may issue an education/research aquaculture permit for operations that will expressly engage in education or research. A lease may be required. Applicants may be approved for three separate sites, with up to an area of one thousand (1,000) square feet for each site. Additional rules for an education/research site include: 1) they shall not be within five hundred (500) feet of one another, but areas bigger may be approved by the full Council, 2)They shall be valid for a period not to exceed three (3) years, 3) a lease may be required and sale of any aquacultured product is not allowed. The Executive Director may grant extensions to these permits. Each extension shall not exceed three (3) years. Educational/research aquaculture operations wholly contained within the confines of a council-approved marina perimeter are excluded from the five hundred (500)-foot separation standard, as contained above, and may maintain a total of three thousand (3,000) square feet in any configuration for such operations.
Lease Transfer-- CRMC may approve the transfer of a lease from the lessee to another party provided the aquaculture operation remains the same, including size, species, gear, and methods of culturing. The full Council must approve any transfers that involve a deviation from the existing assented aquaculture operation.
Experimental Permit—The experimental permit is intended to allow the development of testing of new gear or techniques for aquaculture production. An applicant may be approved for three separate sites, with up to an area of one thousand (1,000) square feet for each site, with areas in excess of this needing approval by the full Council. Restrictions include 1) sites shall not be within 500 feet of each other 2) they shall be valid for a period not to exceed three (3) years, and 3) a lease may be required and the sale of any aquaculture product is not allowed. Additionally “Experimental aquaculture operations wholly contained within the confines of a council-approved marina perimeter area excluded from the five hundred (500) foot separation standard, as contained above, any may maintain a total of three thousand (3,000) square feet in any configuration for such operations.
Modification of Assent -this application is for current lease holders who wish to modify some aspect of their farm, including using different gear types, farming new species, or changing the location in some way. This application can be processed as a CAT B, and no Preliminary Determination meeting is needed if no new area is being proposed.
Cat B Commercial Lease —A commerical lease is processed as a Category B application with 30 Days public notice. Prior to submitting a formal Category B application to CRMC for aquaculture activities, applicants must first submit a Preliminary Determination application for the proposed project. A formal Category B application may be submitted only after the completed Preliminary Determination report has been issued by CRMC. This requires review by the DEM and Marine Fisheries Council. The CAT B permit is eligible for Administrative Approval if no objections are expressed after 30 day public notice for aquaculture sites of up to three (3) acres in the salt ponds or upper Narragansett Bay and; less than ten (10) acres elsewhere. Otherwise, a CRMC public hearing is required for approval.
Cat A apps - A Cat A application is required to install and operate an upweller at a marina or residential dock. These may be eligible for administrative approval. However, upwellers at existing residential docks, piers, or floats in Type 1 waters are prohibited and upwellers at marina’s must be within the CRMC approved marina perimeter.