Saving Seafood

Uncrewed Vehicle Helps Fill Data Gaps in Northeast’s Difficult-to-Reach Areas

August 19, 2025 — Between April 16 and May 5, 2025, a team of ocean researchers conducted the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s second DriX survey out of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. The DriX operated nearly 24/7 for 20 days. It collected data to characterize fish and plankton in Southern New England, including within five wind energy areas at various stages of development. This is a step toward using this innovative technology to study and sample marine life and habitats in places that are challenging for larger research vessels to access.

“Uncrewed systems have the ability to support various stock and ecosystem assessments through data acquisition, particularly in areas that have traditionally been or are increasingly becoming challenging to sample,” explained Conor McManus, Advanced Technology Program Lead for the science center. “We are learning more about how marine ecosystems are changing while improving the technology and operations to be able to use it more expansively in the future.”

The DriX is a submarine-shaped, 25-foot-long uncrewed surface vehicle. Unlike a sub, the DriX operates entirely on the surface. The vehicle is programmed to collect data along transect lines but can correct its course to avoid objects in the water. Similar to a car’s cruise control, it is monitored by trained operators who are remotely present and can take control when necessary. DriX is a flexible platform that can carry many sensors needed to collect oceanographic data. For this survey, DriX was outfitted with:

  • Seapix multibeam sonar (150 kHz)
  • Konsberg EK80 echosounder (38, 70, 120, 200 kHz)
  • Nortek Signature 500 kHz echosounder and acoustic doppler current profiler

These instruments collected data that will help scientists identify fish and plankton fields, as well as currents and other environmental information. For example, data collected by the Seapix can be used to estimate the volume of a school of fish.

DriX and other autonomous and semi-automous vehicles can complement ship-based surveys and improve the efficiency of collecting acoustic and biological data. The DriX could help fill data gaps by working in tandem with our long-term ecosystem surveys, such as the Bottom Trawl Survey. The science center’s surveys, including the Bottom Trawl, have been consistently collecting data on fisheries, ocean conditions, and habitat from the Gulf of Maine to North Carolina for more than 50 years.

During the first week, scientists launched and accompanied the DriX aboard the R/V Gloria Michelle, a 72-foot research vessel homeported in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. They calibrated the acoustic equipment and plankton sampling systems while collecting oceanographic data in the Revolution Wind Energy Area.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

RHODE ISLAND: Federal officials look to stop illegal fishing fleets near RI coast

August 11, 2025 — In the weeks since the Senate Commerce Committee passed the bipartisan Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act in May, its momentum continues to build.

Spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the bill is now primed for a full Senate vote, as lawmakers use summer hearing information to press their case against foreign fishing fleets that threaten American waters, jobs, and sustainability.

“Our bill cracks down on illegal pirate fishing operations to level the playing field for Rhode Island fishermen and processors who play by the rules, and will help nurture the fisheries that keep our oceans and coastal communities so healthy and vibrant,” Whitehouse said.

Read the full article at The Independent

RHODE ISLAND: Proposed NOAA cuts raise concerns for Rhode Island’s fishing industry

August 4, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for the upcoming year includes significant cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), spurring pushback from Rhode Island lawmakers.

The administration is proposing a $1.6 billion year-over-year reduction to NOAA’s budget. The plan specifically calls for the complete elimination of funding for climate research in fiscal year 2026, which begins Oct. 1.

Some of these proposed cuts have already raised alarms among those who depend on NOAA’s services — particularly commercial fishermen in the Ocean State.

Point Judith fisherman Frederick Mattera has more than 40 years of experience. Mattera said his industry relies heavily on two specific aspects of NOAA that are at risk in next year’s budget: climate research and weather data.

Read the full article at WPRI

Fishing Group Renews Effort to Stop Empire Wind

June 13, 2025 — The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association is among the groups calling for a renewed halt to the construction of the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm, which was the subject of a stop-work order in April that was lifted just a month later.

The organizations, which include Protect Our Coast-New Jersey and the Nantucket-based ACK for Whales, have called on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to issue a stop-work order on the 54-turbine, 810-megawatt project, which is to span 80,000 acres in the New York Bight and send renewable electricity to New York City. Mr. Burgum had done just that on April 16, reportedly at the urging of Representatives Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and with the support of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

A month later, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management informed Equinor, the Norwegian company that is constructing the wind farm, that the stop-work order had been lifted, allowing construction to resume. Gov. Kathy Hochul took credit for the reversal, saying that she had “spent weeks pushing the federal government to rescind the stop-work order” so that construction on “this important source of renewable power” could proceed.

The groups seeking to halt the project cited the June 2 death of a subcontractor aboard a platform supply vessel.

“Unlike [the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s] public reporting for oil and gas accidents, there is currently no centralized public reporting website for offshore wind fatalities or injuries,” the groups said in a statement. “The public, press, and fishing community were never informed of this fatality, echoing the lack of transparency seen after the Vineyard Wind LM107P blade implosion on July 13, 2024, when 55 tons of material were deposited into the ocean and washed onto Nantucket’s beaches, only disclosed 48 hours later.”

Read the full article at The East Hampton Star

Local, regional groups sue to halt Empire Wind project

June 13, 2025 — The U.S. government and several entities involved in the offshore Empire Wind 1 turbine project are being sued by environmental and fisheries groups seeking to halt construction, after an April stop work order on Empire Wind 1 was lifted by the U.S. Department of the Interior on May 19.

The plaintiffs in the suit, filed on June 3, hail from New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and include groups like Protect Our Coast NJ, Clean Ocean Action Inc., Massachusetts-based ACK for Whales, the Fisherman’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach and Miss Belmar, Inc.

The suit alleges that the rescindment of the stop work order is “incomplete and failed to safeguard the ecology of our seacoast and the livelihoods it supports,” the plaintiffs’ lead counsel, Bruce Afran, said in a press release obtained by The Ocean Star last week.

“President Trump halted the Empire Wind project due to the Biden Administration’s failure to adequately assess the environmental harm posed by these offshore wind turbines and the impact on our coastal fishing industry,” he said. “None of those critical issues have been resolved. We are asking the federal court to reinstate the stop work order because the project’s federal approvals were incomplete and failed to safeguard the ecology of our seacoast and the livelihoods it supports.”

A representative from Equinor, the Norwegian multinational company that owns the Empire Wind project, did not respond to a request for comment by press time Thursday.

The plaintiffs contend that the project, which would place 54 wind turbines approximately 20 miles east of Long Branch in a triangular area of water known as the New York-New Jersey Bight, would cause environmental disruptions “in one of the Atlantic’s most ecologically sensitive areas.”

Read the full article at Star News Group

 

US senator warns of warming, plastic threats to world’s oceans and fisheries

May 9, 2025 — U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) took to the Senate floor 7 May to warn his colleagues of the threat the warming climate and plastic pollution poses to the world’s oceans and fisheries.

“In the 10 minutes that it takes me to give this speech, the oceans will absorb 4,000 Hiroshima detonations’ worth of heat,” Whitehouse said. “That is why seawater off the Florida Keys hit jacuzzi temperatures. That is why measuring devices along our coasts show a foot of sea level rise already. That is why fish species are moving about and fisheries are collapsing. That is why the world’s coral reefs are bleaching out – over 80 percent of the world’s reefs hit in the last ocean heating surge caused by fossil fuel.”

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

US Senate committee recommends passage of IUU fishing bill

May 1, 2025 — U.S. Senate committee has approved legislation that would increase restrictions on vessels engaged in harmful fishing practices, recommending that the full Senate pass the bill.

“This is another measure in a long line of bipartisan comprehensive bills that [U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island)] and I have been introducing and passing over the last several years,” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said after the committee voted in favor of his bill, pointing to the 2020 Save Our Seas Act. “President Trump has been a big supporter of these clean ocean legislation initiatives, and now we have the FISH Act, which is focused on illegal, unreported, and unregulated [IUU] fishing, which is both a challenge globally, it’s a challenge for our country, and it’s certainly a challenge in Alaska.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

The seal population is growing in Rhode Island. Does that mean fewer fish and more sharks?

April 25, 2025 — July Lewis of Save The Bay sees seals as an indicator of environmental health, so she was encouraged when her organization recently counted 755 in Rhode Island waters.

“It tells us the bay is really healthy, and the coastal waters are as well,” said Lewis, Save The Bay’s volunteer and internship manager.

On March 27, forty-three volunteers fanned out along the shore and water at low tide to count seals in Save The Bay’s annual effort. They counted 551 in Narragansett Bay and 204 at Block Island. Save The Bay is a nonprofit organization, which defines its mission as promoting a healthy Narragansett Bay that is accessible to everyone.

The bay’s seal population has been steady over the past several years, while the Block Island population has increased, according to Lewis.

Fisherman: Seals have “voracious” appetites

Chris Brown, 57, who fishes out of Point Judith on his 45-foot Proud Mary, said, “I’ve never seen so many seals in my life.”

“Seals don’t eat potatoes,” Brown said. “They have voracious appetites.”

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

RHODE ISLAND: Can a Local RI Fishing Panel Make a Difference in Offshore Wind Projects? We’re About to Find Out

April 15, 2025 — When the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) put out a public call for volunteers to revive a state fishing advisory panel, a former panel member warned Jim Riggs against joining.

Riggs, a 75-year-old recreational fisherman and retired electrician who lives in Westerly, applied anyway.

“I feel that in order to have your voice heard when it comes to fisheries management, you’re either on the table or on the plate,” Riggs said in an interview. “I prefer to be at the table.”

His seat at the table is now secured; he is one of nine new members the CRMC named to its Fishermen’s Advisory Board (FAB) after a single, unanimous vote on April 8. The advisory panel has been inactive since all of its former members resigned together in August 2023 to protest what they viewed as the CRMC’s kowtowing to offshore wind project developers at the expense of local fishermen.

Will the same frustrations bubble up? The first test comes this week, as the new panel begins negotiations with SouthCoast Wind, which has applied for a permit to run transmission lines from its wind turbines up the Sakonnet River and out Mount Hope Bay.

Rich Hittinger, a former FAB member who led the mass resignation effort two years ago, isn’t optimistic.

“We were asked to review a lot of applications and give input that took a lot of time and effort, but then the council really did not care what our input was,” said Hittinger, who is first vice chair of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association.

He had discouraged Riggs from joining the panel.

Read the full article at the Rhode Island Current

NOAA employees in R.I. and Mass. fired, rehired, then fired again

Apirl 14, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week fired its previously reinstated probationary workers, including many who worked at local facilities in Narragansett and Woods Hole.

NOAA employees in Rhode Island and Massachusetts told The Publics Radio that they received a mass email on Thursday informing them their jobs had been terminated – again. The NOAA firings were also reported by The Guardian and Reuters.

Until Thursday, the employees had been in a state of paid limbo. But the March 17 order that reinstated the fired NOAA employees to a form of paid leave “is no longer in effect,” according to an email shared with The Public’s Radio. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s general counsel in Washington, D.C. said in the email that “the Department is reverting your termination action to its original effective date.”

“Everyone I know who was in my situation has received the same message,” said Sarah Weisberg, a fisheries biologist formerly with NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Centers in Rhode Island. “Everyone who had been reinstated,’’ she said, “has now been un-reinstated.”

Read the full article at CT Public