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.