East Lyme — With scallops largely absent from the Niantic River in recent decades, the Waterford-East Lyme Shellfish Commission has formed an agreement to purchase juvenile scallops from a local commercial shellfish farmer in an effort to replenish and restore the population.

The agreement, which the commission approved in a 7-1 vote at its Dec. 19 meeting, outlines purchasing approximately 17,000 scallops from Tim Londregan, who owns the Niantic Bay Shellfish Farm, for about $3,000.

Londregan grew the scallops at his hatchery in Stonington after he was granted permission from the commission last year to retrieve around 100 scallops to use as stock from which to grow thousands. The intention, commission Chairman Peter Harris said, was to eventually return those scallops back to their native river.

Londregan and Harris both said Tuesday that Londregan has received all necessary permits from the state Bureau of Aquaculture under the Department of Agriculture to collect, hatch, grow and sell the scallops.

Londregan and Shellfish Warden Richard Chmiel will place the scallops in the coming weeks throughout varying parts of the river most conducive for scallops to grow. Harris said the hope is that those scallops will continue to grow into adults and, pending good weather conditions, spawn next summer to create thousands more scallops, eventually yielding bountiful scallop seasons for years to come.

Harris added that the 17,000 scallops themselves also should be ready to harvest as soon as the late fall of 2020 — especially good news, he said, in wake of this year's low scallop season yield — the first scallop season the river has seen in four years.

“It would be great if this did enhance the population. The idea is kind of like stocking trout in a river,” Harris said. “Maybe we would stock scallops to bump up the (scallop) season. And maybe at some point, the scallops we are placing in the river would spawn and then would increase the wild population.”

Besides those reasons, Harris also said having more scallops helps purify and clean the water — a win-win of sorts for the river's environment and for those who enjoy recreational shellfishing there.

Londregan, who explained the deal as a good business move for himself, also said he felt the commission's decision was “a step in the right direction” toward “establishing and securing shellfish resources for the future.”

“I think it’s moving the commission agenda forward to establish an on-hand readily-accessible supply of seed scallops,” he said. “This is a step moving forward to show the public that we are serious about putting (scallop) seed in the river.”

Londregan, who has been the subject of a recent cease-and-desist order with East Lyme claiming he is in violation of its zoning regulations, also was the subject of a different controversy that unfolded in 2017 after he proposed building a commercial aquaculture operation in the Niantic River to grow juvenile oysters before transferring them to his existing shellfish farm in the Niantic Bay to finish growing.

“No matter what people say about me, I really do care for the river,” Londregan said. “I’ve grown up on the river since before I could even remember. I think it would be great to have a successful scallop harvest. Getting the scallop population back is a reasonable goal. It’s possible.”

Several residents opposed the oyster project, stating concerns about the impacts the farm would have on recreation, local business and river aesthetics. Opponents formed groups, such as Rescue Our River, to speak against the proposal, which Londregan has since withdrawn.

In an effort to support a similar seeding initiative, Rescue Our River recently followed through on its own project in combination with the shellfish commission to seed the Niantic River with more than 100,000 juvenile oysters to restore that population and support the river's environment, instead of: “installing visually unappealing and potentially dangerous floating or anchored equipment in the river,” according to a GoFundMe page promoting the project. The oysters should be ready for harvest in about 18 months.

Rescue Our River, and other interested residents partnered with the shellfish commission over the last year to receive the appropriate permits to move forward on that project. Rescue Our River raised $10,000 to purchase the oyster seed from Jim Markow, owner of Mystic Oysters and president of Noank Aquaculture Cooperative. That seed was placed in the Niantic River — the first time in a decade — in late November.

Harris said that despite Rescue Our River and Londregan's differing visions, the commission is wholly committed to “promoting and enhancing recreational shellfishing” in the Niantic River and therefore saw both initiatives as opportunities to support that mission and the river itself.

The success of both those projects, however, also depends on weather conditions and other factors that may impact the river environment and stunt shellfish growth. Scallops, Harris said, are especially sensitive to environmental changes and are more susceptible to predators and water changes that may stunt their growth.

In years past, the commission pursued a similar scallop seeding project to no avail, he said, due to intense rainfalls that came the month after the seed was laid.

But because the potential outcome of putting scallop seed into the river was so great, Harris said it was worth it for the commission to pursue the new project and spend the $3,000 for the 17,000 juvenile scallops. The commission is using its own funds, gathered from shellfishing permits, to pay for the project.

m.biekert@theday.com