 | AQUACULTURE BLUEPRINT: College of the Environment and Life Sciences Dean Jeffrey Seemann (l) and President Robert L. Carothers (r), review plans for the new Aquaculture Research Laboratory with donor and shipbuilder Luther Blount.
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Shipbuilder donates $300,000 toward aquaculture labFor 50 years Warren, R.I., shipbuilder Luther Blount has built tugboats, barges, fishing boats, ferries, small cruise ships and a variety of other marine vessels. Now he’s helping the University of Rhode Island build a state-of-the-art Aquaculture Research Laboratory on its Narragansett Bay Campus.
Recently Blount donated $300,000 from his Narragansett Bay Resource Foundation to launch construction of a facility that will enhance research efforts in the study of shellfish and finfish aquaculture and marine biotechnology. He also agreed to help raise additional funds for the building.
“Many of our Bay’s resources, such as oysters, soft clams, scallops and eelgrass, are at best low in population and in some areas almost absent from the Bay,” Blount said. “We have steadily used or taken, or just watched without endeavoring to foster renewal, leaving it up to the vagaries of nature in a changing environment. This gift is a step toward promoting the reversing of this situation.”
Funded in part by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and designed by Visions III Architects of Providence, the Aquaculture Research Laboratory will feature a high-tech water processing system to circulate fresh and saltwater through the laboratory for the culture of finfish, shellfish, phytoplankton and zooplankton. It will also include a marine pathology laboratory to foster research on pathogens affecting wild and captive fish.
“This facility is critical to our efforts at URI to provide cutting-edge research support to the state’s growing aquaculture industry,” said College of the Environment and Life Sciences Dean Jeffrey Seemann. “As we bring state-of-the-art scientific tools, including modern facilities and biotechnology, to bear on sectors of the Rhode Island economy with significant growth potential, we hope to play an important role in stimulating that economic growth.”
Research at the facility will enhance the opportunity for collaboration and recruitment of biotechnology companies to the state. It will also support development of service industries providing equipment and other supplies to the industry.
“Luther is a true champion for the aquaculture industry in Rhode Island and is committed to supporting URI’s research efforts. We appreciate his generosity and look forward to working with him for many years to come,” said URI Senior Development Officer Katherine Horoschak.
Blount has long been dedicated to the conservation of marine resources in Narragansett Bay and an advocate of aquaculture. His foundation was established to foster development of the Bay’s shellfish stocks and other marine resources and to protect the shoreline. Blount had planned to create a shellfish hatchery on property he owns on Prudence Island. When that project ran into difficulties, he turned to URI to make his dream a reality.
“This donation is the best way to see my project through,” Blount said. “I can’t do it myself, but I know you can.”
Groundbreaking on the aquaculture facility will begin in the spring.
“And I’ll be right there with a shovel,” said Blount.
By Todd McLeish
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