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News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
For Release: November 25, 2005
Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402
Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418

DEM, NOAA STAFF TO RELEASE ONE MILLION OYSTERS INTO RHODE ISLAND COASTAL WATERS AS PART OF NORTH CAPE RESTORATION PROGRAM

PROVIDENCE - The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announce that they will release more than one million oysters into Rhode Island's coastal waters beginning on Tuesday, November 29, as part of the North Cape shellfish restoration program.

The oysters were purchased as larvae from a commercial hatchery in June and settled in tanks at DEM's Coastal Fisheries Laboratory in Jerusalem on shell fragments packed in mesh bags prepared by a team of volunteers. The larvae were then transferred to an "oyster nursery" in Point Judith Pond for grow-out during the summer, where they were closely monitored, again with the help of volunteers. These seed oysters have now grown to an inch or more in size and will be released to discrete sites to restore oyster populations in historic beds.

This marks the third release of oysters under the North Cape restoration program. During each of the past two years, about 500,000 oysters were released. Follow-up surveys indicate that they are doing well and that natural sets of oyster larvae or 'spat' are beginning to appear in the area around the restoration sites.

The North Cape shellfish restoration program addresses the natural resource damages sustained when the tank barge North Cape ran aground off Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown in 1996, spilling 828,000 gallons of heating oil into Block Island Sound and Rhode Island's coastal ponds. More than 10 million surf clams and other shellfish, fish, and birds were killed as a result of the spill. A legal settlement was reached in 2000, and funds were secured from the responsible party to help restore injuries to shellfish and other coastal resources. Restoration efforts have been ongoing since 2001.

Scientists and resource managers from DEM and NOAA are directing the restoration efforts. Both agencies, along with the U.S. Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, are the trustees for the natural resources damage settlement for the North Cape spill.

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