TIVERTON, R.I. (AP) — A proposed aquaculture project in waters off Tiverton has received approval from the town’s Harbor Commission and can now advance to a formal application before the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council.

Bradley Boehringer and Travis Lundgren, experienced oyster farmers, want to grow oysters and bay scallops in a more than 2.5-acre area just north of Sapowet Point, according to The Newport Daily News.

“I tried to pick a spot where there’s not a lot of recreational things going on. There are no properties directly in front of the lease,” Lundgren said of the property nearby that is owned by the Audubon Society. “I picked a spot where there are not too many people.”

The site is about 500 feet away from a two-acre oyster farm that is currently the only aquaculture operation in town.

Benjamin Goetsch, aquaculture coordinator for the CRMC, said oyster farms could be put “back to back and not have any impact.”

The latest statewide report on aquaculture, dated 2019, said there were 81 aquaculture leases in the state’s waters and the value of aquaculture products for consumption was valued at $5.7 million.

–Associated Press

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