DOVER – When a new shellfish grower recently placed his first shipment of tiny oysters in growing cages in Rehoboth Bay, it marked the physical start of Delaware’s shellfish aquaculture program administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Fish & Wildlife. “Planting” the tiny oysters on leased acreage was the realization of an idea that began in 2012 with conversations between DNREC, the Delaware Department of Agriculture, the Center for the Inland Bays, Delaware SeaGrant, and stakeholders – and which led to legislation in 2013 authorizing commercial shellfish aquaculture in Delaware’s Inland Bays.

“We see this as a significant first step in the development of the new shellfish aquaculture industry,” DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin said. “We are making great strides in the Inland Bays in improving water quality and the ecology, and shellfish aquaculture contributes to achieving those goals. It is very encouraging to see this first seeding of what will become the foundation for commercially-grown oysters and hard clams in Delaware.”

In addition to the leaseholder cited above, DNREC’s Shellfish Aquaculture Program has received 23 lease applications to date for the new industry. If all of these applications are approved after the review process, 126 acres will be leased for shellfish aquaculture in the Inland Bays – with maximum acreage limited by law to 5 percent of Rehoboth and Indian River Bays, and 43 acres in Little Assawoman Bay. NOTE: Outside of the leased shellfish aquaculture acreage, the Inland Bays are accessible and open to recreational fishing, crabbing and clamming, subject to Delaware’s normal recreational fishing license and regulation requirements.

Applications for shellfish aquaculture leasing are continuously being accepted and evaluated by the Division of Fish & Wildlife. On May 10, DNREC updated the Inland Bays interactive shellfish aquaculture maps to reflect acreage currently available for lease. (For more information on the program, the latest information on the shellfish aquaculture webpage on the DNREC website.)

As with the tiny oysters sown by the new grower in Rehoboth Bay, acreage already leased is showing signs of shellfish aquaculture activity. Throughout spring, shellfish growers have been arranging to purchase young oyster and hard clam “seed” to place on their Inland Bays’ leases. These planted shellfish are very small now, but will grow to market size. Shellfish aquaculture is considered environmentally “green” as an industry because shellfish filter the water and get all their nutrition from it. The filtering and feeding of the oysters can result in the reduction of excess nutrients such as nitrogen that cause algal blooms and decrease water clarity.

It is also expected that the new shellfish aquaculture program will result in a boost for Delaware’s economy. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) Fisheries estimated that in 2015, US shellfish farmers produced an estimated $295 million in product. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science estimated that the value of the oysters and clams sold in Virginia alone in 2017 was $56.6 million. In time, and with a lot of care and attention from the state’s new shellfish growers, the Inland Bays-grown oysters planted this spring will be available for sale in a year or two.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 48, No. 127

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DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife will begin accepting more Inland Bays shellfish aquaculture lease applications postmarked after midnight Tuesday, Dec. 5 on a first-come, first-served basis.

Initial applications were made after a lottery was held in May to determine the order of selection. Now that all of the lottery participants have selected their potential lease locations, applications are being accepted by DNREC for the remainder of the available acreage.

Beginning after midnight on Dec. 5, applications and a required $300 application fee can be sent via certified mail to the Division of Fish & Wildlife, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. No in-person or electronically-delivered applications will be accepted. The order of the applications for selecting lease locations will be determined by their postmarked dates.

Available acres within the state-approved Shellfish Aquaculture Development Areas (SADA) are indicated on the interactive shellfish map, and the SADA application is on the DNREC Shellfish Aquaculture Program webpage. Applicants may also apply for acreage outside of SADA areas, via a separate non-SADA application, also linked to the webpage.

For more information on Inland Bays’ shellfish aquaculture, or on the first-come, first-served application submission process, please visit DNREC’s Shellfish Aquaculture webpage, or contact DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife 302-735-2960.

Vol. 47, No. 252

Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Lottery applications now available for May 2 drawing

DOVER – The Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife will conduct a public lottery for the initial offering of acreage available for shellfish aquaculture leases in Delaware’s Inland Bays at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, at DNREC’s Lewes Facility, 901 Pilottown Road, Lewes, DE 19958.

Applications to participate in the lottery are available online at Aquaculture Lottery Application, or by contacting DNREC’s Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914. To participate in the May 2 lottery, applicants must submit their completed applications to the Division of Fish & Wildlife by 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 26.

Applicants will be contacted by the Fisheries Section in the order their applications were drawn in the lottery and need not be present to claim their position. In the order of their awarded position, lottery participants will be able to select one to five acres in the Indian River and Rehoboth Bays (combined) and/or one to five acres in the Little Assawoman Bay.

Applications to lease acreage will be accepted after all lottery participants have selected their acreage through the lottery process.

Acreage selected through the lottery may not be transferred to another entity prior to the issuance of a fully-executed lease. Following the award of lease sites through the lottery, remaining acreage will be available for potential leases on a first-come, first-serve basis.

If a lottery participant fails to submit a completed and accepted lease application for their selected acreage within one year from the date of the initial lottery, those acres will be made available for leasing on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information about the lottery and the shellfish aquaculture program, visit Delaware shellfish aquaculture, or call the Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.

Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

Media contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 73

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DOVER – The Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife’s shellfish aquaculture program has posted an interactive online map that provides site-specific information helpful for selecting shellfish aquaculture lease locations in the Inland Bays. The map shows those areas covered by the recent Statewide Activity Approval (SAA) issued by DNREC’s Wetlands and Subaqueous Lands Section, which facilitates the expedited processing of shellfish aquaculture lease applications.

The interactive map, which depicts prohibited and seasonally-closed shellfishing areas, allows users to gather information on shellfish aquaculture areas covered by the SAA, including location coordinates and which acres have been sampled and are eligible for leasing based on natural hard clam density. The map also will serve as a tool for identifying shellfish aquaculture acreage as it is leased in the future.

DNREC will initiate leasing of shellfish aquaculture acreage through an initial lottery and begin accepting aquaculture lease applications soon after the scheduled issuance later this month of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ new nationwide permit and regional conditions, which are anticipated to govern shellfish aquaculture in specific areas of the Inland Bays.

Media contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 47, No. 63

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DOVER – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has adopted a process for abbreviated review and approval of shellfish aquaculture leases by DNREC’s Division of Water following a comprehensive review conducted by the Division of Fish & Wildlife on a significantly-reduced number of acres than allowed for under state regulation, while also limiting operations in Little Assawoman Bay approved under the process to growing only hard clams.

DNREC Secretary David Small this week approved a Statewide Activity Approval (SAA) for use in considering applications for leasing state subaqueous lands for shellfish aquaculture in Little Assawoman, Rehoboth and Indian River Bays. The SAA will only be applicable to 343 acres rather than the 442 acres that were approved as shellfish aquaculture development areas (SADA) under regulations adopted in 2014. DNREC expects that most aquaculturists will seek SAA approvals due to the abbreviated process allowed, rather than individual permits that will be required for all other areas suitable for aquaculture that are outside of those approved under the SAA.

“Approval of this process addresses concerns we have heard from waterfront property owners around the Inland Bays, and still allows certainty for small business interests who wish to pursue growing oysters and clams in the Inland Bays,” Sec. Small said. “DNREC had an obligation to develop a process for implementing the law allowing aquaculture, and this approach does so in an equitable manner. This is a major step in moving the program forward.”

The portions of the SADA in the Little Assawoman Bay approved under the SAA process were limited to sections farther away from homes and areas potentially used by recreational boaters, sailors, kayakers and paddleboarders. The SADA in Beach Cove off Indian River Bay that had previously been adopted by regulation is not eligible for approval under a SAA. Under today’s action, DNREC is also committed to a future review of the regulations, including the potential permanent removal of some SADA areas, and the requirement for marking the one-acre tracts with white PVC pipe. Both of these provisions are included in the regulation and unable to be addressed by the establishment of a SAA for shellfish aquaculture.

Commercial shellfish aquaculture in the Inland Bays was facilitated by the 147th General Assembly’s unanimous passage, and signing into law by Governor Jack Markell in 2013, of House Bill 160. DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife was charged with adopting regulations for the new program, in consultation with other state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, about how different aspects of shellfish aquaculture might affect the Inland Bays. DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife sought public opinion via two public meetings, followed by a public hearing and comment period on commercial shellfish aquaculture regulations as required by the Administrative Procedures Act. Concerns about the location of some shellfish aquaculture development areas surfaced after the public process and adoption of the regulations.

As shellfish aquaculture program development continued after regulations were adopted, the Division of Fish & Wildlife proceeded with steps to include less acreage under an abbreviated review and approval process than adopted in SADAs. The reduction was facilitated by Fish & Wildlife seeking required subaqueous lands approval for shellfish aquaculture through submission of a Statewide Activity Approval application to DNREC’s Wetlands & Subaqueous Lands Section. The requested and approved SAA areas include 209 acres in Rehoboth Bay, 91 acres in Indian River Bay (a reduction of 24 acres under the SAA), and 43 acres in Little Assawoman Bay (a reduction of 75 acres under the SAA).

Shellfish aquaculture lease applications will be accepted by the Division of Fish & Wildlife after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues new nationwide permits in spring 2017. The Corps’ nationwide permits are issued on a 5-year cycle with the current permits set to expire March 18, 2017. The new nationwide permits are expected to include conditioned approval of shellfish aquaculture. Soon thereafter, the Division of Fish & Wildlife will begin accepting lease applications to award shellfish aquaculture leases through an initial lottery.

The Secretary’s Order for use of a Statewide Activity Approval in considering shellfish aquaculture lease applications can be found on the DNREC website. For more information on the shellfish aquaculture SAA, please contact DNREC’s Wetlands & Subaqueous Lands Section at (302) 739-9943. For more information on the shellfish aquaculture program, please contact the Fisheries Section at (302) 739-9914.

Vol. 46, No. 424

MEDIA CONTACT: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

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