Saving Seafood

RHODE ISLAND: NOAA Updates Recreational Fishing Policy to Reflect Climate Crisis, Increase Diversity

November 6, 2023 — Recreational fishing is an important economic driver for the Ocean State, bringing in as much as $160 million annually when you include hotel stays and restaurant, bait shop, and marina spending by visitors.

More than 80,000 Rhode Islanders fish recreationally, with an equal number of out-of-staters coming here to fish, according to the Rhode Island Environmental Monitoring Collaborative.

Warming seas, habitat loss, and changes in the movement of bait fish are impacting the state’s recreational and commercial fisheries. Atlantic bluefin tuna, a popular species commonly fished off the Ocean State coast, is one of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean species projected to be impacted by warmer waters and habitat loss.

Other iconic Rhode Island species, such as cod and lobster, have been moving north for a while. Once-abundant winter flounder is now difficult to find.

Read the full article at EcoRi News

RHODE ISLAND: Study Commission Hears Testimony About Ocean State’s Disappearing Quahogs

November 6, 2023 — An autumn afternoon in a Smith Hill committee room isn’t the usual habitat for a small group of quahoggers. The cloistered halls of the Statehouse are a far cry from the open waters and shorelines of Narragansett Bay, but for the four shellfishermen chosen to serve on a joint legislative study commission, it could mean their livelihood.

Their chief product is a literal state symbol: the northern quahog, also called hard clams. With their iconic shape and brown or gray concentric rings lining the outside of their shells, they are instantly recognizable to most Rhode Islanders. They are featured in the state’s popular “stuffies.” They are seen as the backbone of the state’s seafood industry and Rhode Island’s blue economy, to the point where earlier this year, state officials installed giant stuffies in airports across the nation as part of an advertising campaign.

But quahoggers working Narragansett Bay today are catching less than half the total amount of quahogs they were a decade ago. What once was a thriving trade in the 1980s, supporting thousands of shellfishermen and their families, has now dwindled to the point where less than 200 commercial quahoggers work the bay.

That’s because the state symbol seems to be vanishing from local waters. Last year quahoggers harvested 397,442 pounds of quahog meat, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That’s less than half of what they caught 10 years ago: in 2012, Ocean State quahoggers harvested more than 900,000 pounds of meat.

Read the full article at EcoRi

RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island Revises Terms as It Issues Its Largest Wind Power Solicitation

October 17, 2023 — Rhode Island is moving forward with the state’s largest renewable energy solicitation after announcing it would form a three-state partnership with Connecticut and Massachusetts to review and coordinate a regional approach to offshore renewable energy. At the same time, Rhode Island is also providing additional latitude to developers to provide possible avenues to address the emerging financial challenges in the development of offshore wind energy resources.

The neighboring states each have recently had major offshore projects fall apart due to inflation pressures as well as rising costs due to supply chain problems and concerns over tax credits and incentive programs. Massachusetts agreed to let two projects pay fines to walk away from existing power purchase agreements and recently Connecticut also established a fine for a developer to cancel its power agreement. Last year, Rhode Island decided not to proceed with a proposed project saying that it was concerned over the affordability of the power coming from the offshore wind farm, while last week New York State turned down applications from developers that were seeking to increase the cost of power also citing inflation and rising costs to develop the projects.

Rhode Island’s state power company, Rhode Island Energy on Friday issued its anticipated request for proposals from offshore energy developers. The company is seeking to secure an additional 1.2 GW of offshore power to help address the state’s energy needs. The window to submit proposals runs through January 31, 2024, with the company saying that any winning bids will be announced in the summer of 2024.

Read the full article at the Maritime Executive

RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island Energy seeks proposals for additional 1,200 megawatts of offshore energy

October 16, 2023 — Rhode Island Energy on Friday issued a request for proposals to secure an additional 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind, the largest renewable energy solicitation ever sought for the state. 

This latest request, previously announced by Gov. Daniel J. McKee on Sept. 28, comes a week after Rhode Island joined New England’s first multistate offshore wind memorandum of understanding with Massachusetts and Connecticut.  

The MOU is meant to pave the way for a coordinated selection of offshore wind as each state solicits offshore wind energy generation through their own procurements. 

“Bringing more affordable offshore wind opportunities to Rhode Island and our region is a key priority for us,” said Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy. “We know there’s a sense of urgency to get more renewables online and we believe this next RFP will give developers a new, unique opportunity to think creatively about how they can meet the state’s clean energy and economic development goals, while balancing our customers’ affordability needs.” 

Read the full article at PBN

RHODE ISLAND: R.I. Coastal Agency Approves New England Wind Project off Martha’s Vineyard

October 16, 2023 — Rhode Island coastal regulators gave the green light last week to another offshore wind project proposed for southern New England’s waters but without a key stakeholder in the room: the state’s fishing industry.

The Coastal Resources Management Council ruled by unanimous vote the 804-megawatt (MW) New England Wind project developed by Connecticut-based energy company Avengrid was consistent with federal and state regulations so long as it agreed to certain stipulations provided by agency staff. Final approval of the New England Wind project — formerly Vineyard Wind South — is left up to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

The project would install 84 turbines in a lease area 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, and deliver electricity via a buried export cable that would make landfall in Hyannis, Mass. Except for a small portion of the export cable, the project is located entirely outside of Rhode Island state waters.

It is the first wind project to be considered by CRMC’s executive body without input from the Fisherman’s Advisory Board (FAB). The board, a stakeholder group staffed by recreational and commercial fisherman and representatives from other related marine industries, resigned in protest in August, alleging state regulators were ignoring their own regulations to approve offshore wind projects that would be harmful to the environment and the fishing industry.

CRMC executive director Jeff Willis said at last Tuesday’s meeting that FAB’s resignations would have no impact on the approval process for New England Wind, and that the agency has continued to reach out to the members of the board and ask for their participation.

Read the full article at EcoRi News

RHODE ISLAND: Another major offshore wind project clears state hurdle in Rhode Island

October 12, 2023 — Another large offshore wind farm near the southern New England coast is moving forward after securing the support of Rhode Island coastal regulators.

The state Coastal Resources Management Council unanimously voted Tuesday to award what’s known as a consistency certification to New England Wind, a two-part project of up to 130 turbines being developed by energy giant Avangrid Renewables. The council agreed that the project, with certain conditions attached, is consistent with Rhode Island coastal policies.

Fishermen advisory board’s walkout means fewer questions for project

The vote came at the end of a meeting that was much shorter and less contentious than similar deliberations on previous offshore wind proposals that have come before the Rhode Island council.

That was due in large part to the mass resignation five weeks ago of all the members of a board that advises the council on fishing impacts in protest of what they described as a regulatory process tilted in favor of offshore wind developers. Without the input of the Fishermen’s Advisory Board, there were fewer questions put to the representatives of Avangrid about their 2,004-megawatt project.

Read the full article at the Providence Journal

RHODE ISLAND: Anti-wind farm group sues CRMC over Revolution Wind OK

October 11, 2023 — Green Oceans, a Little Compton-based citizens group that fiercely opposes offshore wind farms, is in the midst of a civil lawsuit it has filed against the state Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), claiming the council violated the constitution, state regulations, and its own responsibilities when it approved the Revolution Wind farm in May.

The lawsuit, being heard in Newport Superior Court, asks the court to vacate the CRMC’s decision, which, in effect, declared that the wind farm conforms to the state’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), provided that the developer, Revolution Wind LLC, takes some agreed-upon mitigating actions.

Attorneys for the CRMC fired back, stating that private citizens have no legal standing to bring such a suit, that Green Oceans has not suffered injury because of the CRMC action, that the complaint was filed past deadline, and that Green Oceans was taking the action without an attorney, which is not allowed.

The next scheduled action in the case will be a hearing on a motion to dismiss on Nov. 17 in Newport Superior Court.

The May vote by the CRMC was a fairly minor but necessary state-based approval and part of a long approval process that Revolution Wind LLC began more than two years ago. Final approval comes from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The developer proposes to build 65 wind turbines, two offshore substations, and miles of undersea cable on the Continental Shelf about 13 miles from Rhode Island, bringing 704 megawatts of clean electricity onshore. The project is part of a strong push by the federal and state administrations to replace energy from dirty fossil fuels with renewable energy.

The federal government released in July a final Environmental Impact Statement for Revolution Wind. That is nearly the last action that happens before final approval, which is given by BOEM, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Read the full article at EastBayRI

RHODE ISLAND: Making a Splash: Reed Delivers $500,000 for RI Fisheries Research

October 11, 2023 — The following was released by Jack Reed:

Rhode Island’s commercial fisheries and seafood sectors account for more than 4,300 jobs and drive $420 million in statewide economic impact, according to a joint Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation-University of Rhode Island study.

In an effort to help ensure continued growth and sustainability of Rhode Island’s commercial fishing sector amidst evolving challenges with ocean health, U.S. Senator Jack Reed today delivered a $500,000 federal earmark to finance a deep dive study that will help the Ocean State’s commercial fishermen.

Senator Reed joined David Bethoney, PhD, Executive Director of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF); local fishermen; and research collaborators at Point Judith’s Superior Trawl facility to celebrate this federal funding that will advance and enhance the organization’s efforts to understand, manage, and develop innovative solutions to challenges faced by commercial fishermen.

“As climate change rapidly alters the coastal landscape and oceans, we’ve got to support our commercial fishermen and help them adapt while also taking good care of our commercial fisheries.  The well-being of both our fishermen and fisheries is critical to the Blue Economy and our economic future,” said Senator Reed.  “CFRF research is critical to resilient and sustainable fisheries and ensuring commercial fishermen have a voice and a say when it comes to policies that impact their livelihoods.  This new funding will deepen our understanding of modern ocean challenges.  The data collected by CFRF and their partners will be used to ensure commercial fishermen have appropriate access rights and develop innovative solutions to ensure our commercial fisheries are healthy, resilient, and can thrive.”

“We are excited and grateful for this opportunity to build on initiatives that empower the commercial fishing community to help us understand and address significant change in the ocean environment,” said David Bethoney, PhD, Executive Director of CFRF.

With this federal earmark, CFRF will leverage and grow cooperative research efforts on issues affecting fishermen in Rhode Island and across southern New England. This work will utilize the knowledge of local fishermen to better understand and mitigate challenges facing the fishing sector, like climate change, rapidly warming waters, and plastic pollution. Specifically, CFRF will use these federal funds to:

  • Modernize its Shelf Research Fleet initiative;
  • Add juvenile black seabass monitoring to the Black Seabass Research Fleet;
  • Create an informed implementation strategy for automatic squid jigging, and;
  • Continue ghost gear removal from Rhode Island waters.

Additionally, CFRF plans to invite more local fishermen to participate in these research initiatives, creating a path for fishermen to supplement and diversify their incomes. For example, the Shelf Research Fleet has included 18 fishermen since the project first started to collect profiles of water temperature and salinity at two-week intervals across the continental shelf.  This research effort has already identified an increase in bottom intrusions of warm, salty water that may have gone undetected without their monitoring.

A senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Reed secured this $500,000 earmark in the fiscal year 2023 consolidated appropriations law. The funding will be administered by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Earlier this year, Senator Reed also delivered $2.4 million to build a new shellfish hatchery and research center that will support the Ocean State’s aquaculture and seafood industries. This project is a collaboration between the University of Rhode Island and Matunuck Oyster Farm.

The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation is a nonprofit established by commercial fishermen to conduct collaborative fisheries research and to carry out education projects.

New England states join to buy offshore wind power as US industry struggles

October 5, 2023 — Three U.S. states in New England – Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut – on Wednesday agreed to jointly procure offshore wind power as soaring interest rates and rising equipment and labor costs have made some projects uneconomic.

By joining forces, the states hope to counter the pain rippling across the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, which is expected to play a key part in decarbonizing the power sector and revitalizing domestic manufacturing.

Earlier this week, another offshore wind developer canceled agreements to sell power to local utilities – this time in Connecticut – because the previously agreed upon prices for that power was too low to cover the rising cost of building the project.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced the agreement between the three states at the American Clean Power Association’s Offshore WINDPOWER Conference in Boston, according to a press release on the governor’s website.

Read the full article at Reuters