The Special Legislative Commission studying decreased quahog catch in Narragansett Bay met Tuesday afternoon to finalize findings and recommendations. The commission’s final report will be released to the public in coming weeks.

Tuesday’s session was a quiet, amicable affair. However, the respect between commission members belies underlying battle-lines, well established across the past months of deliberation. Commission members include representatives of state shellfishermen, including Michael McGiveney and Jim Boyd of the RI Shellfisherman’s Association, sitting alongside scientists like DEM water quality and shellfish specialist David Borkman. What is clear now is that these two parties are at odds on nitrogen concentrations in the bay – the central issue of study.

The shellfishermen’s set of recommendations include a proposal to raise nitrogen levels released by wastewater treatment plants in the upper bay during winter months. The fishermen believe that the increased nitrogen concentrations would boost primary production, providing more phytoplankton that the filter-feeding quahogs live on, while still allowing nitrogen levels to drop by the summer months when there is a higher risk of algae blooms and eutrophication. Shellfisherman’s Association representative Jim Boyd made a point to emphasize the proposals scientific merits of nitrogen injection, citing previous expert testimony of URI ecologist Dr. Candace Oviatt.

 “It was [Oviatt’s] suggestion to add nitrogen during the wintertime” said Boyd, slightly raising his voice as he noted that Dr. Oviatt as a “renowned scientist… which the [Department of Environmental Management] has worked with extensively for decades on hypoxia in Narragansett Bay.”

The Narragansett Bay Commission, which owns and operates the two largest wastewater treatment plants in the state, is subject to a 5 milligram per liter nitrogen concentration limit, tested on May 1st. The Narragansett Bay Commission says that it would not be possible to meet May 1st requirements if nitrogen injections were carried out in the winter. DEM, as well as scientists on the commission, have raised concerns about altering the limit itself, which the shellfishermen have suggested, as they say higher nitrogen levels could lead to hypoxia.

Despite these disagreements, Warwick representative and commission co-chair Joseph Solomon Jr. says that the commission has a “strong general consensus on 80 to 90 percent of the report.” The main action item with unanimous support is an increase in quahog transplanting. Shellfisherman’s association president Michael McGiveney described transplanting as a relatively straightforward solution to a simple problem: “there are a lot of shellfish in the bay, but a lot of them are in areas [shellfishermen] can’t get to” said McGiveney.

There is an existing transplanting program, but it is kept alive by volunteer work from shellfishermen and funded by fines levied on wastewater treatment plants. The shellfishermen are looking for an increase in funding from the state budget for a transplanting program, which would allow increased scale, and possibly even the use of dredging vessels for the operation. The rough estimate from McGiveney was that a “low six-figure amount would probably be adequate [to fund the transplanting program] for several years.” Co-Chairs Solomon and Senator Alana DiMario say they are in contact with House and Senate Finance Committees to ensure this funding boost is included in the budget.

Even after the report is released in May, study on the issue will continue. Many of the scientific questions, of if water can be ‘too clean,’ and what factors really account for decreased quahog catch, remain in question. Shellfishermen still hold out hope that the state will take further action in the future to bolster what they say is a historic and economically vital industry. “It’s not what I hoped” says Warwick quahogger and commission member Jody King, “but it’s a start.”