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The Westerly Sun    25/01/2005 11:51:49

Tom Kasprzak

The Stonington Shellfish Commission has unanimously approved exploring the harvesting of oysters near Certain Draw Point in the Pawcatuck River.

Commission Chairman Don Murphy said that, although the board has endorsed the idea, the contract still has to be worked out between the town and Denison Shellfish, the company that plans to harvest the oysters.

"We agree in principal that it is a good idea to do," Murphy said. "We are at the earliest stage of working out the details."

Lance Stewart, owner of Denison Shellfish, and an extension professor of agriculture and natural resources at the University of Connecticut, plans to lease 17 acres from the town, in the Pawcatuck River.

Murphy said the area Stewart is planning to lease, just south of Certain Draw Point, is a perfect location to harvest oysters because it is calm water, and well out of the navigational channel for boats. Murphy explained that Stewart is a veteran harvester of shellfishing and said the oysters will help clean the river, something Stewart is eager to do.

"He's really a person who's eager to improve water quality," Murphy said of Stewart.

Stewart, who has been involved in harvesting shellfish for 22 years, said oysters typically filter 20 to 30 gallons of water a day, and will help clean the water of algae that has built up in the river over the years.

"We have a tremendous amount of nitrates coming out of the sewage treatment plant," Stewart said.

Stewart added that the Pawcatuck River will become an intermediate growing site for the oysters. After the oysters have grown sufficiently from feeding on the nitrates the Pawcatuck and Westerly sewage treatment facilities provide, they will be moved out of the river and force fed clean water for a number of months.

Stewart explained that nitrates from the sewage treatment facilities have fueled the growth of algae, both macro-algae, and micro-cellular algae, which is the algae that blooms in the spring and covers the top of the surface. The macro-algae sits at the bottom of the river, creating a muck that renders the bottom of the river useless for oysters and other shellfish to thrive on.

Stewart said that the river used to be full of oysters and scallops, before the algae robbed the river of viable oyster bedding, morphing the sand and rock into mud and silt.

Murphy said Stewart plans on growing the oysters in suspended cages and bags that will not come in contact with the riverbed.

"It's safer for (oysters)," Murphy said. "It protects them from predators and sinking into the bottom."

Murphy said that harvesting oysters in suspended bags and cages has become a popular way to harvest oysters, and is currently being used by Mohegan Aquaculture in the waters off of Ram Island.

Stewart said growing the oysters in bags and cages enables growers to harvest oysters singularly, rather than in groups, which are oysters natural way of growing. Stewart said growing oysters singularly usually produces a healthier, more prospering animal.

"Our hope is that we will (impart) to the river a viable, oyster population," Stewart said.

Murphy said although the plan to lease the river property to Denison is not set in stone, he is optimistic that Stewart will begin growing the oysters in the river this spring.

"If we increase aqua-culture it will have a positive impact on the river," Murphy said.