January 2, 2025 — A boom in oyster sales is fueling Rhode Island’s aquaculture industry to its most successful period since data tracking started in 1995, according to the state Coastal Resources Management Council.
In 2024, oysters remained the most popular aquaculture product with 11,595,512 pieces sold for consumption, according to the CRMC annual report. The number of aquaculture sites, the farm-gate value, total farm workers and more all increased during the year.
In 1995, the total dollar value of all aquaculture was $83,518. Fast forward to 2024, when that figure skyrocketed to $8,795,493, a 9.37% increase since 2023, according to the report. Oyster seeds sales also saw a jump of 4.41%.