September 5, 2012 — Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation today announced that the top regional officials from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will be in Rhode Island on Monday, September 10 to hear directly from Rhode Island fishermen about issues facing the industry.
John K. Bullard, who was recently appointed to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Northeast Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Bill Karp, who was recently named Science and Research Director for NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, will hold a “listening session” with stakeholders and members of the public concerned with challenges facing the fishing industry.
The meeting is scheduled to be held at Superior Trawl in Point Judith.
Bullard has held a series of public meetings around the NMFS Northeast Region, which stretches from Maine to North Carolina, and says he wants to hear from fishermen, scientists, environmentalists, seafood dealers and processors, aquaculture industry and other members of the interested public about not only the challenges they are facing, but also what success looks like.