Saving Seafood

First offshore wind farm goes offline: An industry warning?

November 2, 2020 — In the new year, the first offshore wind farm in the United States will shut off its turbines, and its customers on nearby Block Island in Rhode Island will revert to diesel generation.

The rocky saeabed around Block Island has been worn away by tides and storms, sometimes exposing high-voltage cables in a popular swimming location that developers failed to bury deep enough when the facility was brought online in 2016. To splice in newly buried cables, the wind farm will go offline for a brief period this spring.

At $30 million for one leg of the fix and an undisclosed amount for the other, it’s a costly problem to crop up for the nation’s first offshore wind farm, and it’s not totally isolated.

Read the full story at E&E News

Rhode Island senators want a say in fishery rules

October 30, 2020 — Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, both D-R.I., introduced Senate Bill S.4804, the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Fairness Act. The bill would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the fishing law of this nation, to add Rhode Island to the list of seven states represented on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and eight regional councils manage fisheries in our federal waters.

The Senate bill would give Rhode Island two new voting seats on the council. Many of the fish caught off our coast are regulated by the Mid-Atlantic Council, yet Rhode Island has no representation on the panel.

Spiny dogfish and monkfish are both managed under joint fishery management plans developed by the Mid-Atlantic and New England Council. Many of the Mid-Atlantic Council’s managed fisheries are fished for in state waters, so the council works with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to coordinate management of summer flounder, scup, black sea bass and bluefish. All of these  species are important to recreational and commercial fishers in Rhode Island.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

South Fork Wind Farm delayed until 2023

October 29, 2020 — Developers of the South Fork Wind Farm say the project isn’t expected to be operational until the end of 2023, a “significant” delay that is a year from LIPA’s contractual start date.

In a conference call Wednesday, the company cited the expectation that federal permitting delays that have stalled projects across the northeast will continue into 2021. Developer Orsted said federal regulators overseeing the project also have yet to confirm the company’s plan to farther space out turbines for the project at one nautical mile apart, in part to accommodate fishing and shipping interests.

The $2 billion-plus project, rated at 130 megawatts, is proposed for federal waters off Massachusetts/Rhode Island.

Federal regulators are expected to provide needed permitting approvals by October 2021, according to Orsted.

“Given the updated permitting schedule, we now expect South Fork Wind to be in operations by the end of 2023 rather than 2022 as initially expected,” spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said in a statement.

Read the full story at Newsday

Senators introduce Fishermen’s Fairness Act

October 29, 2020 — Last week Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse introduced Senate Bill S. 4804, the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Fairness Act. The bill would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the fishing law of this nation, to add Rhode Island to the list of seven states represented on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The Council is one of eight regional bodies that regulate fishing with NOAA.

The Senate bill would give Rhode Island two new voting seats on the council. Many of the fish caught off our coast are regulated by the Mid-Atlantic Council, yet Rhode Island has no representation on the Council.

Senator Reed said, “The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is a key decision making body that determines what happens off the coast of Rhode Island, but our state doesn’t have a seat on the Council.” Senator Whitehouse, said, “As climate change heats up the oceans, fish that once lived in the warmer mid-Atlantic have migrated north to the waters off New England.”

Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline of Rhode Island are expected to introduce a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Ocean-based Climate Solutions Act to address climate change impacts

Read the full story at The Cranston Herald

Rhode Island set to double down on offshore wind power

October 28, 2020 — Rhode Island is set to double down on its commitment to offshore wind power.

The Ocean State became home to the first offshore wind farm in the nation with the completion of the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm in 2016 and followed up last year with a contract for another 400 megawatts of capacity from the proposed Revolution Wind project to be built southwest of Martha’s Vineyard.

Now, Gov. Gina Raimondo is looking to procure as much as 600 more megawatts of power generated by towering wind turbines that would rise up out of the ocean waters off southern New England.

Her administration announced on Tuesday that National Grid, the state’s main energy utility, is working on a request for proposals from offshore wind developers that is on track to be released early next year.

The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources is overseeing the drafting of the RFP, which is expected to be submitted for approval to the state Public Utilities Commission this fall. Any contracts that result from the bidding would also have to go before the commission for final approval.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

Study: Most Of The Plastic Found In Seabirds’ Stomachs Was Recycleable

October 22, 2020 — The great shearwater is a seabird commonly seen off the New England coast. It’s not particularly striking — to the untrained eye, it looks like a brown seagull with long wings. It eats by diving underwater, grabbing prey and then returning to the surface to swallow it down. The birds aren’t rare or endangered, but they can live for decades, and this makes them especially interesting to scientists who study long-term environmental pollutants.

“Because they’re long-lived and are eating at similar food web levels as where a human might eat, they’re great indicators of the environment, and they really tell us a lot about the health of this Atlantic system,” says Anna Robuck, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.

Humans dump an estimated 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic into the ocean each year, and some of it gets eaten by fish, marine mammals and seabirds like great shearwaters. Though scientists have done a bunch of studies looking a how much plastic animals eat, very few have examined what type of plastic they eat. And knowing where the plastic came from could help us keep it out of the ocean.

Read the full story at WBUR

To Further the ‘Calamari Comeback,’ Rhode Island Delegation is Angling to Give Ocean State Fishermen a Greater Say on Squid Quotas

October 21, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Jack Reed (D-RI):

In an effort to give Rhode Island fisherman a voice and voting representation on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), which manages some of the most important fish stocks for the state’s commercial fishing industry – chief among them squid, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and U.S. Representatives James Langevin and David Cicilline, today announced the reintroduction of the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Fairness Act.  The bill would add Rhode Island to the list of seven states with voting representation on the MAFMC, a regional management board that establishes fishery management rules for stocks primarily caught in federal waters adjacent to the mid-Atlantic coast.

“This is an issue of fairness.  The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is a key decision making body that determines what happens off the coast of Rhode Island, but our state doesn’t have a seat or say right now.  Our fishermen deserve appropriate representation on this council.  Mid-Atlantic-regulated stocks now represent the majority of landings for Rhode Island commercial fishermen.  It is time that our state has formal representation on this council and this legislation will ensure they get it,” said Senator Reed, who has been pushing this issue since 2005.

“As climate change heats up the oceans, fish that once lived in the warmer mid-Atlantic have migrated north to the waters off New England,” said Senator Whitehouse.  “We’re fighting to get Rhode Island fishermen more of a say in the rules for catching fish that are now plentiful off our coast.”

“Rhode Island’s fishermen must have a voice in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s decisions, which increasingly affect the future of Rhode Island’s fisheries,” said Congressman Langevin, lead author of the House bill. “Our state has a proud history of providing quality seafood for our nation, but climate change and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue to threaten our fishing industry. As the Mid-Atlantic Council confronts these pressing challenges, we are reintroducing the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Fairness Act to ensure Rhode Island has a seat at the table.”

“Getting a seat at the MAFMC table would be a major win for Rhode Island’s fishermen,” said Congressman Cicilline. “The loss of restaurant revenue during this pandemic has devastated our commercial fishing and seafood industries. Rhode Island fishermen have worked hard to overcome these challenges this year, and including them on the Council will give them an even better opportunity to succeed.”

The catch of Rhode Island commercial fishermen represents a significant percentage of commercial landings of the Mid-Atlantic fishery, and is greater than most of the states represented on the Council.  According to data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), between 2014 and 2018, Rhode Island accounted for approximately a quarter of the commercial landings by value from stocks under the MAFMC’s sole jurisdiction.

According to a 2019 report from NOAA’s commercial landings database: There were 32 million pounds of squid landed by Rhode Island fishermen with a value of $31 million.  This represents about 40 percent of the state’s total commercial fisheries landings by pounds and 28 percent of total landings value.

Without representation on the MAFMC, Rhode Island cannot participate fully in development of fishery management plans for Mid-Atlantic stocks, many of which are crucial to the Rhode Island seafood economy.

The Rhode Island Fishermen Fairness Act would add two places for Rhode Island representation to the 21 member Council.  One seat would be appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under recommendations from Rhode Island’s Governor.  The second seat would be filled by Rhode Island’s principal state official with marine fishery management responsibility.  To accommodate these new members, the MAFMC would increase in size from 21 voting members to 23.

CARES Act spend approvals clears USD 13.2 million for fishery aid in four states

October 1, 2020 — Four states that recently gained CARES Act spend plan approvals are now in the process of distributing aid, which all together totals just over USD 13.2 million (EUR 11.2 million) in funds.

The four states – North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Rhode Island – represent collectively less funding than many individual states. Currently just over USD 114.1 million (EUR 97.1 million) in funds have been cleared for release through spend plans, with the largest recipient so far – Massachusetts – receiving just over USD 28 million (EUR 23.8 million).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Maine’s CARES Act spend plan acknowledges now-approved aid isn’t enough

September 29, 2020 — Maine is among the latest states have had CARES Act spend-plans approved by NOAA, bringing the current total of states with approved plans to 12 as of 29 September.

Maine – along with Alabama, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Virginia – have all had spend plans approved and can now begin the application process for fishery participants. The states join California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NEFMC Reelects Dr. John Quinn as Chair, Eric Reid as Vice Chair; Welcomes Two New Members

September 29, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council today reelected Dr. John Quinn of Massachusetts and Eric Reid of Rhode Island to serve as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, for another year in the Council’s two top leadership positions.

This is Dr. Quinn’s fifth consecutive year in the chairman’s post. He is the Assistant Dean of Public Interest Law and External Relations at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) School of Law. He also is the Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Government Relations at the UMass School of Law. Prior to becoming Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn. – NEFMC photo Council Vice Chairman Eric Reid. – NEFMC photo Council chairman, Dr. Quinn served as vice chair for three years. He joined the Council in 2012 with a long history of legislative, legal, and fishing industry experience as a former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 18 years and as a practicing attorney, first at an outside law firm from 1989-1992 and then through his own firm from 1994-2010. During these tenures, he spent a considerable amount of time working on fisheries issues, which led him to be well prepared for his extensive responsibilities as Council chairman.

This is Eric Reid’s second year as Council vice chairman. He works at Seafreeze Shoreside Inc., a large, full-service seafood processing facility in Galilee, Rhode Island. He previously owned and operated his own business, Deep Sea Fish of Rhode Island, for 11 years before joining Seafreeze in 2013. Eric has a long history in seafood processing in several of New England’s largest fishing ports, and in his early career, he spent time on both commercial and recreational fishing vessels. He currently is a U.S. Commissioner to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization.

Read the full release here