Saving Seafood

Rhode Island and Massachusetts Announce Largest Procurement of Offshore Wind in Nation’s History

May 24, 2018 — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The following was released by the Office of Governor Gina Raimondo: 

Building on her commitment to a clean, affordable and reliable energy future, Governor Gina Raimondo announced today that Rhode Island has selected Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island-based clean energy developer, to construct a new, 400-megawatt offshore wind farm. The Revolution Wind project–more than ten times the size of the Block Island Wind Farm–was selected through a competitive offshore wind procurement process in collaboration with Massachusetts.

“Rhode Island made history when we built the first offshore wind farm in the United States,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. “Today, we are doing it again. This new, large-scale offshore wind project will bring clean and low-cost power to Rhode Islanders and further diversify our energy resources–all while adding good-paying jobs to our growing economy.”

“Rhode Island pioneered American offshore wind energy, and it’s only fitting that the Ocean State continues to be the vanguard of this growing industry,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. “We applaud Governor Raimondo for her bold commitment to a clean energy future. We are building a new industry here in Rhode Island while driving down the cost of clean energy. Revolution Wind will mean lots of jobs for Rhode Island and major investments in local infrastructure.”

Deepwater Wind’s Revolution Wind project was selected through Rhode Island’s participation in a clean energy procurement process conducted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Rhode Island state agencies, including the Office of Energy Resources and the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, independently evaluated the proposals.

In March 2017, Governor Raimondo set a goal for Rhode Island to increase its clean energy resources portfolio ten-fold by 2020 to reach a total of 1,000 megawatts. Today’s announcement represents a significant step toward achieving that goal.

The success of the Block Island Wind Farm was due in large part to the willingness of all stakeholders to come together from the outset, and Governor Raimondo looks forward to building on that collaboration. Rhode Island’s commercial and recreational fisheries are a critical component of our marine economy and will play a large role in this process.

Deepwater Wind will now enter negotiations with National Grid, which will submit a proposed contract to the Public Utilities Commission for regulatory review. The project will also be subject to a federal approval process before it proceeds.

 

R.I. selects Deepwater Wind to build 400-megawatt offshore wind farm

May 23, 2018 — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The state has selected Deepwater Wind, the Providence company that built the nation’s first offshore wind farm, to develop a 400-megawatt proposal in federal waters far off the coast that would be more than 10 times the size of the Block Island demonstration project.

Governor Gina Raimondo announced the surprise decision Wednesday afternoon.

“Rhode Island made history when we built the first offshore wind farm in the United States,” she said in a statement. “Today, we are doing it again.”

The governor made the announcement at the same time that Massachusetts announced that it had selected Vineyard Wind, a rival offshore wind developer, to develop an 800-megawatt project in the same general area of federal waters that curves southeast in a wide swathe from a point between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

 

Members Of Commercial Fishing Industry Oppose Proposed Changes To Herring Fishery

May 23, 2018 — Commercial fishing companies are against proposed changes to the Atlantic herring fishery management plan.

The New England Fisheries Management Council wants to establish a new process for setting the sustainable harvest limit, referred to as the “acceptable biological catch.” That control rule, which is set every three years, would be in place for a longer period of time.

The Town Dock, a Rhode Island-based seafood dealer and processor, said in a statement changing that rule would be problematic for the fishery.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

Tricia Jedele: Offshore wind rush is irresponsible

May 21, 2018 — In an April opinion piece, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wrote that “affordable, reliable, and abundant American energy drives domestic jobs and prosperity.” If by “drives domestic jobs and prosperity” Zinke meant “threatens the very existence of New England fishermen,” then the East Farm Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island (which represents Rhode Island commercial fishermen) would agree.

Right now, Zinke’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is reviewing a construction and operation plan submitted by Vineyard Wind. Vineyard Wind is a project company owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, a company based in the industrial port city of Bilbao, Spain. These companies plan to install a massive offshore wind project in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.  In the first phase of the project alone, according to the plan, Vineyard Wind will install between 88 and 106 wind turbine generators, up to four electrical service platforms, 156.4 nautical miles of cable, and up to three offshore export cables that are each 122.5 nautical miles long. And this is just the first project.

There are two other project companies also vying for state contracts and state and federal approvals. Deepwater Wind’s Revolution Wind could be built off the Massachusetts’ coast at various sizes up to 400 megawatts in its first phase.  Bay State Wind, a 50-50 joint venture between Ørsted (a company based in Denmark) and Eversource Energy, is a proposed offshore wind project located 25 miles off the Massachusetts’ coast and 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard with the potential to build up to 2,000 megawatts of wind power in the area.  Combined and fully developed, these projects could install more than 500 turbines in the waters off Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Read the full story at Commonwealth Magazine

 

Northeast squid fishermen, processors optimistic about steady markets

May 16, 2018 — The northeast longfin (loligo) squid fishery runs year-round, with the commercial harvest typically peaking in spring and fall. The shortfin (illex) squid season typically gains traction from May and runs into the fall, with catch largely related to feeding and spawning migration and market conditions.

Ex-vessel price for longfin varies from year to year and is driven by fresh market demand instead of freezer demand.

“It depends on the run, but fishermen get around $1.40 per pound, or higher, if the fresh market is hot,” said Eric Reid, general manager of the Rhode Island processor Seafreeze Shoreside. “That price doesn’t seem to want to go anywhere. The fishery is driven by the processor price, which is strong.”

NOAA approved new squid specifications for the 2018-20 fishing years. The annual quota for shortfin was set at 50.52 million pounds, and the longfin quota is similar at 50.56 million pounds.

“Currently, weather is determining the catch more than anything,” said Reid. “Fishing has not been spectacular yet, but we’ve been severely constrained for the past month or so. It’s weather dependent, but there are signs that the fish are around.”

“Right now, the domestic market demand is extremely good in the short term,” said Reid. “Once we get into our spring fishery, a lot more vessels are involved, and they are closer to the shore, so we will see how that impacts things.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

As Gulf of Maine warms, will black sea bass make up for declines in lobster?

May 15, 2018 — The Gulf of Maine’s warming waters could mean that new fisheries are coming to Maine.

The Bangor Daily News reported that many lobster fishermen, concerned about a possible drop-off in the lobster resource, are looking at other species like Jonah crab and black sea bass. In 2016, fishermen in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island together earned $2.38 million from their black sea bass fishery.

If Maine were to develop a black sea bass fishery, she said, fishermen could use techniques and equipment that are very similar to what they use now to catch lobster, which would help with the transition, Marissa McMahan, a senior fisheries scientist for the environmental science nonprofit Manomet, told the BDN.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

 

Scientists say Maine’s lobster boom won’t last. Here are the fisheries coming next.

May 14, 2018 — For the past two decades Maine’s lobster industry, which had $433 million worth of landings in 2017, has been lauded and envied as a model for how conservation practices can help a fishery thrive.

But if, as some have predicted, Maine’s lobster boom since 1990 reverses itself, lobstermen might find themselves having to catch something else in order to maintain their livelihoods out on the water. With an eye toward the future, many in Maine have been looking south to see what kind of emerging species other fishermen are catching as climate change disrupts the environment.

In southern New England, many fishermen have turned their attention to species such as Jonah crab and black sea bass, the numbers of which have increased as ocean temperatures warm and as lobster in the region have become more scarce. Maine’s lobster landings remain near historic highs, but some say the changes that have occurred south of Cape Cod are inevitable in the Gulf of Maine.

“I know it’s a hard concept to get around, but it’s going to happen,” Norbert Stamps, a Rhode Island fisherman, told a roomful of other fishermen at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport in March.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

The Future of Fishing Is Big Data and Artificial Intelligence

May 10, 2018 — New England’s groundfish season is in full swing, as hundreds of dayboat fishermen from Rhode Island to Maine take to the water in search of the region’s iconic cod and haddock. But this year, several dozen of them are hauling in their catch under the watchful eye of video cameras as part of a new effort to use technology to better sustain the area’s fisheries and the communities that depend on them.

Video observation on fishing boats—electronic monitoring—is picking up steam in the Northeast and nationally as a cost-effective means to ensure that fishing vessels aren’t catching more fish than allowed while informing local fisheries management. While several issues remain to be solved before the technology can be widely deployed—such as the costs of reviewing and storing data—electronic monitoring is beginning to deliver on its potential to lower fishermen’s costs, provide scientists with better data, restore trust where it’s broken, and ultimately help consumers gain a greater understanding of where their seafood is coming from.

“Electronic monitoring is a tremendous tool,” says Brett Alger, national electronics technology coordinator for NOAA Fisheries. “It isn’t necessarily for everyone or every fishery,” but “we’re working collaboratively in all of our regions with fishermen on the ground to understand their needs. I expect it to grow.”

The technology is required for highly migratory longline species in the Atlantic (swordfish). It’s thriving in the Pacific coast groundfish industry, and dozens of other fisheries regions have pilot initiatives.

Read the full story at Civil Eats

 

URI Leads Effort To Reform Commercial Fisheries in the Philippines

April 25, 2018 — Researchers at the University of Rhode Island are leading a new project in the Philippines to increase the number of fish in their waters.

The Philippines is one of the biggest fish producing nations in the world. The U.S., for example, depends on the country for crab and tuna.

However, the majority of their fishing grounds are overfished, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based environmental advocacy organization.

URI and other Filipino universities and organizations will be working throughout the next five years to develop better fishery management plans for municipalities.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

Rhode Island Fishing Industry Releases ‘Blueprint for Resilience’

April 25, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — After two years members of the Rhode Island fishing industry have put together the Rhode Island Commercial Fisheries Blueprint for Resilience.

The Blueprint for Resilience was created to address issues that the state fisheries are facing: warming water temperatures, changing food webs, habitat alteration, shifting demographics and labor markets, increasing competition from other ocean industries, and regulatory strain. With financial support from the Saltonstall-Kennedy grant from NOAA, the project allows the industry to identify goals, tools and tactics for public relations, civic engagement, innovative seafood marketing and much more.

A launch event for the Blueprint for Resilience will take place May 7 from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the South Kingstown Elks Lodge in Wakefield, RI. Members of the fishing industry will have a chance to brainstorm how to implement some of the recommendations.

Read the Rhode Island Commercial Fisheries Blueprint for Resilience here.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished with permission.