(Photo of shellfish operation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Fish and Wildlife announced that the final regulation for shellfish aquaculture (farming) in the Inland Bays was published in the Aug. 1. Delaware Register of Regulations. The shellfish aquaculture regulation will go into effect Monday, Aug. 11.
With adoption of the final regulation, the Division of Fish and Wildlife will submit a permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with the permit needed by the division to issue shellfish aquaculture leases in the Inland Bays.
A permit application could not be submitted specifying the location of Shellfish Aquaculture Development Areas (SADAs), allowable aquaculture gear types and other program aspects until the regulation was final.
A shellfish aquculture industry is viewed as a way to bring an industry to the state while improving the quality of the inland bays, since oysters filter water. A shellfish aquaculture industry is already in place in neighboring Maryland, with thousands of acres on the Baltimore side of Chesapeake Bay, according to the magazine of the same name.
The final regulation can be viewed at Final Shellfish Aquaculture Regulations.
