Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island Archives

The Power Struggle Behind Rhode Island’s Offshore Wind Farms

April 18, 2024 — Right now, 60 percent of the electricity in the United States is generated by fossil fuel, compared to 21 percent renewables. Of the latter, wind power accounts for a little over 10 percent, according to the latest data provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But in March 2021, President Joe Biden announced his administration would marshal the resources of the federal government to meet a new clean energy goal: deploy thirty gigawatts of offshore wind in the United States by 2030, “while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use.”

The waters off the New England coast will be particularly busy. Currently, there are nine active leases for wind farms, stacked diagonally in a grid of turbines placed one nautical mile apart, covering a roughly 909,000-nautical-square-mile area about fifteen miles south of the Rhode Island coast, midway between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard. To date, BOEM has approved the constructionand operation plans for two projects, Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind, both developed by Danish renewable energy company Ørsted with partner Eversource, which has since sold its stake in those projects. Revolution, a sixty-five-turbine farm, will deliver power to 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut. South Fork, with twelve turbines, will deliver power to 70,000 Long Island homes. A third lease — the Sunwise Wind project, with eighty-four turbines — is in the early stages.

The fishing industry fears the effects on fish stocks and fishing. For example, on the sea surface, the spacing of the turbines can create navigational hazards; below, the displacement of boulders on the sea floor to lay transmission cables can create obstructions to nets, says Fred Mattera, who is executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island and has served as a fisheries representative on the construction plans and compensation packages for offshore wind farm projects. In September, the entire Rhode Island Fishermen’s Advisory Board quit in protest after the CRMC granted its approval to Ørsted’s Sunrise project.

“We love to build and deal with the consequences later. We have stakeholders that represent half a billion dollars and thousands of jobs in the fishing community,” Mattera says. “Are we willing to give that up? I do believe there will be damage to the ecosystem because there’s too many uncertainties.”

Read the full story at Rhode Island Monthly

Feeding America: Seafood distribution program benefits fishermen, people in need

September 9, 2021 — September is Hunger Action Month, so WPRI 12 and our parent company Nexstar are helping to raise awareness.

Sometimes good can come out of bad. For instance, a new fish distribution program developed during the first few months of the pandemic helps both fishermen and those who need food.

The fishing fleet in Point Judith lost a lot of business due to COVID-19 as restaurants closed or had limited hours. Data from the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island (CFCRI) shows a 30% loss in revenue from 2019 to 2020.

To help, CFCRI secured funding to buy fish from the fishermen. That money came mostly from an anonymous donor.

“Community partners — seven of them across the state — stepped forward and said, ‘we have hundreds and hundreds of people that need food, need meals,’” said CFCRI executive director Fred Mattera.

So a seafood distribution program was born in August 2020 and it continues to this day, supporting fishermen and people who need what they catch.

Read the full story at WPRI

CFRF Job Opening: Research Biologist

March 12, 2021 — The following was released by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation:

The CFRF is seeking a motivated and qualified individual for the position of Full-time Research Biologist to start April 2021. Applications are due by March 26, 2021.

A full description of this job opening and application instructions are available HERE.

Overview of Position: Full‐time position focusing on collaborating with the commercial fishing industry to continue the Shelf Research Fleet, support an automatic squid jig pilot project and help execute at-sea work for pre‐wind farm development fisheries monitoring surveys.

Timeframe and Compensation: The position will last for one year, beginning in April 2021. The research biologist will maintain an average of 35 hours of work/week, will receive compensation at a rate of $48,000‐$52,000/year, depending on qualifications, and benefits of healthcare, paid holiday and paid personal time off.

Scope of Work: The qualified applicant will work with CFRF staff, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the fishing community to maintain the Shelf Research Fleet and utilize Fleet data. The project, run since 2014, utilizes modern technology and fishermen’s time on the water to collect oceanographic data in six study areas across the continental shelf south of Rhode Island. The individual will also assist with other projects conducted in collaboration with the local fishing community.

Location: : The Research Biologist will work from the CFRF office located in the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island building on the East Farm Campus of the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, RI) as well as from their home office.

Qualifications: See full position description for minimum and preferred qualifications.
To Apply: Email a cover letter, CV, and contact information for three professional references to twinneg@cfrfoundation.org by March 26,2021.

Questions: Contact Teresa Winneg at twinneg@cfrfoundation.org or 401-515-4890. Please visit here for additional background information.

Good works: Program is helping RI farmers, fishermen and the hungry

November 25, 2020 — Bad times bring out good ideas.

The Rhode Island Food Policy Council – in its work with Hope’s Harvest RI, Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank – is bringing food to those who need it and supporting Rhode Island farmers and fishermen at the same time.

This important work has just begun and there are many teams out there working to expand it and build on some work already done.

One problem is that farmers and fishermen have lost their valuable restaurant and institutional business, including colleges and corporate dining services, since the pandemic began in March.

The second problem is that food insecurity is soaring. Unemployment from the shutdown means more people in need of help. Food pantries across the state have reported they are working hard to keep up with the demand.

Demand is up 45% from a year ago this time, said Nessa Richman, Network Director of the Food Policy Council.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

New app connects Rhode Island fishermen directly with customers

August 3, 2020 — Hit hard by restaurant closures due to the coronavirus, Rhode Island fishermen welcomed a 120-day pilot program announced in May by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management that allows them to sell directly to consumers.

Now, there’s a free app called “FishLine” that shows which fishermen are selling which types of fish and where to find them. The app is a collaboration between the Rhode Island Seafood Marketing Collaborative, the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, Eating with the Ecosystem and Rhode Island Sea Grant.

Westerly fisherman Josiah Dodge fishes for lobster, black sea bass, fluke, scup and sea robin from his vessel, F/V Cricket. Dodge’s family has been fishing since 1661, but having a long history in the industry doesn’t mean he’s not open to new ideas.

“This app is super helpful and really easy to use, and hopefully, more people catch on to it down here,” he said.

Dodge and other participating fishermen can be found on the FishLine app under the tab “Find Seafood.” The user enters a zip code and the app finds fishermen close by. Clicking on an individual fisherman will bring up GPS coordinates that will guide the user to the vessel.

Read the full story at The Westerly Sun

JOB OPENING: CFRF Research Associate

July 29, 2020 — The following was released by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation:

The CFRF is seeking a motivated and qualified individual for the position of Full-time Research Associate to start September 2020. Applications are due by August 12, 2020.

A full description of this job opening and application instructions are available HERE.

Overview of Position: Full-time position focusing on leading the communication aspects of CFRF’s research portfolio. This includes leading two projects focused on the communication of environmental change to fishing communities.

Timeframe and Compensation: The position will last for one year, beginning in September 2020. The Research Associate will maintain an average of 35 hours of work/week, will receive compensation at a rate of $48,00-$52,000/year, depending on qualifications, and benefits of paid holiday and vacation time.

Scope of Work: The qualified applicant will be responsible for helping CFRF Research Biologists and the Executive Director communicate project results and CFRF’s mission to a variety of stakeholders. All CFRF projects have an outreach component that this position will assist in. The individual will also lead two projects that seek to communicate the impacts of ocean acidification on the scallop fishery and changes on the New England shelf related to intrusions of warm, salty water.

Location: : The Research Associate will work from the CFRF office located in the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island building on the East Farm Campus of the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, RI) as well as from their home office.

Questions: Contact Teresa Winneg at twinneg@cfrfoundation.org or 401-515-4890. Please visit here for additional background information www.cfrfoundation.org.

JOB OPENING: CFRF Research Biologist

July 22, 2020 — The following was released by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation:

The CFRF is seeking a motivated and qualified individual to fill the position of a Full-time Research Biologist in August 2020. Applications are due by August 5, 2020.

A full description of this job opening with qualifications and application instructions is available HERE.

Overview of Position: Full-time position focusing on collaborating with the commercial fishing industry to execute pre-development fisheries monitoring surveys. The individual will also assist in other CFRF research initiatives at the direction of the Executive Director.

Timeframe and Compensation: The position will last for one year, beginning in August 2020. The research biologist will receive compensation at a rate of $48,00-$52,000/year, depending on qualifications, and benefits of paid holiday and personal time.

Scope of Work: CFRF and local commercial fishermen are conducting a suite of surveys to collect pre-construction biological and environmental data in wind farm development and reference areas. The qualified applicant will be key to the completion of these surveys, including serving as the overall project lead for a trawl-based survey.

Location: The Research Biologist will work from the CFRF office located in the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island building on the East Farm Campus of the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, RI) as well as from their home office. Surveys will be one-day trips leaving from Point Judith, Newport, or Sakonnet, Rhode Island.

Qualifications: See full position description for minimum and preferred qualifications.

To Apply: Email a cover letter, CV, and contact information for three professional references to twinneg@cfrfoundation.org by August 5, 2020.

Questions: Contact Teresa Winneg at twinneg@cfrfoundation.org or 401-515-4890. Please visit here for additional background information www.cfrfoundation.org.

Rhode Island Seafood Industry Comes Together To Launch Food Assistance Program

July 8, 2020 — The following was released by Eating with the Ecosystem:

The Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, Eating with the Ecosystem, and the Rhode Island Food Policy Council are joining together to launch a new series of online cooking classes, “Cook a Fish, Give a Fish!” These online classes not only raise eaters’ seafood game through small-group seafood tutorials led by local chefs; they also raise funds to deliver local seafood to families experiencing hunger.

The new program comes as the coronavirus era presents a number of challenges — as well as some promising learning opportunities — for fishermen, chefs, seafood businesses, and eaters.

“In general, most Americans are not very comfortable cooking seafood at home,” said Kate Masury, program director at the non-profit Eating with the Ecosystem. “The majority of seafood we consume in the US, about 70%, is actually consumed in restaurants. With restaurants having to limit their operations in order to maintain social distancing, that means the market for our locally caught seafood is also severely limited, which impacts our local fishermen and seafood businesses.”

“Our new online cooking classes will inspire local consumers to expand their repertoire and explore new recipes with family and friends in their own homes,” added Fred Mattera, Executive Director of the Commercial Fisheries Center. “Even more importantly, the classes will generate funds to process fish donated by the fishing industry and provide this fish to families in need.”

With the nation’s unemployment rate surpassing 11 percent, demand for food pantry services has surged. The organization Feeding America estimates that one in six Americans will experience food insecurity this year. Each ticket to a “Give a Fish, Cook a Fish!” class will purchase ten seafood meals for Rhode Island families who can’t afford to buy fish this summer.

Here’s how it works: Each weekly class session is led by a different local chef. The chef sends out a recipe and participants source all of the ingredients themselves, including the fish (organizers can provide advice on where to look). Typically, classes will center around whole fish, rather than processed fish. When class day arrives, participants connect on a video chat. Then, in kitchens across the Ocean State, they socialize, learn about local fisheries, and turn whole fish into delicious homemade meals for their families to enjoy.

How to sign up: To sign up for a “Cook a Fish, Give a Fish!” class, go to (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/112145084968). Tickets cost $75/household and all proceeds after expenses will be used to share fish to families in need.