by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
August 26, 2026
The more than six-year saga of an oyster farm proposed for Tiverton’s Sapowet Cove continues with no end in sight, after a state coastal lawyer rejected neighbors’ attempt to scrap the project.
A small crowd packed the second-floor state office where the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council met Tuesday, lured by a single line in the meeting agenda for a determination by CRMC hearing officer Mark Krieger. None of them knew what Krieger would recommend, having not heard from Krieger since their Sept. 23, 2024, hearing.
Krieger was not there Tuesday night. Instead, a synopsis of his 11-page decision was shared by the agency’s legal counsel and promptly accepted by the seven-member, appointed panel.
His decision rejected opponents’ arguments that a 2024 law limiting development along the Sakonnet River should prevent the 1-acre oyster farm application from being considered.
The reason: The law was not in place when Little Compton brothers John and Patrick Bowen applied for the aquaculture lease in 2019. Since the language in the law does not state the restrictions apply retroactively, the Bowen brothers’ application is not subject to the limits on water use for anything but “passive outdoor recreation,” Krieger wrote.
“In essence, it was not illegal for the applicants to operate a commercial entity, i.e, an oyster farm within Sapowet Cove,” Krieger said.
Sitting in the last row of folding chairs Tuesday night, the Bowen brothers looked at each other and smiled as they heard the news.
“We feel validated,” Patrick Bowen said in an interview after the meeting.
The property owners and their attorneys declined to comment.
An Aug. 24 blog post on the opposition website, Save Seapowet for All, reiterates the legal objections to the project.
“If CRMC ignores the law, then they will be disregarding the General Assembly’s authority,” the anonymous post states. “Allowing the application process to continue through the permitting process wastes the public’s and CRMC resources.”
Krieger’s determination allows debate to continue on the substance of the case — whether the mountain of objections from property owners, fishermen and even the state aquaculture association are enough to warrant denying the project application.
In the initial, 2021 recommendation, CRMC staff wrote that the proposal for 200 bottom cages a few hundred feet from the shoreline met the technical requirements used to evaluate aquaculture farms. But staffers deferred to the appointed council to consider the many objections over how the project would interfere with fishing, boating and recreational use.
After multiple delays and postponed meetings, the council punted the decision in late 2023 to Krieger. As the newly appointed hearing officer brought on to adjudicate contested cases, it made sense to let the Lincoln private practice attorney give first review to the proposal, council members reasoned.
But the rigorous schedule of hearings, involving questioning and cross-examination of both sides, and expert witnesses, was abandoned after three groups of objectors, all of whom own properties nearby, asked Krieger to dismiss the case based on the 2024 law. Their attorneys’ July 2025 joint motion spawned a series of legal filing back and forth with the Bowen brothers, who were representing themselves. The last legal filing was submitted in January 2025.
Since then? “Radio silent,” Patrick Bowen said.
Anthony DeSisto, the CRMC’s legal counsel, referred to Krieger when asked why it took nearly two years since the last in-person meeting on the case for a decision. Krieger did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday.
Krieger’s decision is not a final order. Under the state’s Administrative Procedures Act, once a final determination is made — including a vote by the council — on the merits of the project, objectors can appeal administratively and to the Superior Court.
Resumed hearings have not been scheduled.
The Bowen brothers maintained their commitment to the project despite the yearslong delays and contentious nature.
“My brother and I both farm,” said Patrick Bowen. “We’re both getting older, and it’s something we look forward to doing in the future.”
Patrick Bowen, 56, works as a carpentry teacher at Dighton-Rehobeth Vocational High School and owns an apple orchard in Little Compton. Sean Bowen, 55, works as an aquaculture coordinator for the state of Massachusetts and owns a local garlic farm.
If approved, the duo hope to sell oysters direct-to-consumer and to local restaurants, while offering educational visits to students from grade to graduate school.
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com.
