Saving Seafood

The Power Struggle Behind Rhode Island’s Offshore Wind Farms

April 18, 2024 — Right now, 60 percent of the electricity in the United States is generated by fossil fuel, compared to 21 percent renewables. Of the latter, wind power accounts for a little over 10 percent, according to the latest data provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But in March 2021, President Joe Biden announced his administration would marshal the resources of the federal government to meet a new clean energy goal: deploy thirty gigawatts of offshore wind in the United States by 2030, “while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use.” 

The waters off the New England coast will be particularly busy. Currently, there are nine active leases for wind farms, stacked diagonally in a grid of turbines placed one nautical mile apart, covering a roughly 909,000-nautical-square-mile area about fifteen miles south of the Rhode Island coast, midway between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard. To date, BOEM has approved the constructionand operation plans for two projects, Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind, both developed by Danish renewable energy company Ørsted with partner Eversource, which has since sold its stake in those projects. Revolution, a sixty-five-turbine farm, will deliver power to 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut. South Fork, with twelve turbines, will deliver power to 70,000 Long Island homes. A third lease — the Sunwise Wind project, with eighty-four turbines — is in the early stages.

The fishing industry fears the effects on fish stocks and fishing. For example, on the sea surface, the spacing of the turbines can create navigational hazards; below, the displacement of boulders on the sea floor to lay transmission cables can create obstructions to nets, says Fred Mattera, who is executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island and has served as a fisheries representative on the construction plans and compensation packages for offshore wind farm projects. In September, the entire Rhode Island Fishermen’s Advisory Board quit in protest after the CRMC granted its approval to Ørsted’s Sunrise project.

“We love to build and deal with the consequences later. We have stakeholders that represent half a billion dollars and thousands of jobs in the fishing community,” Mattera says. “Are we willing to give that up? I do believe there will be damage to the ecosystem because there’s too many uncertainties.”

Read the full story at Rhode Island Monthly

Rhode Island Seafood Industry Comes Together To Launch Food Assistance Program

July 8, 2020 — The following was released by Eating with the Ecosystem:

The Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, Eating with the Ecosystem, and the Rhode Island Food Policy Council are joining together to launch a new series of online cooking classes, “Cook a Fish, Give a Fish!” These online classes not only raise eaters’ seafood game through small-group seafood tutorials led by local chefs; they also raise funds to deliver local seafood to families experiencing hunger.

The new program comes as the coronavirus era presents a number of challenges — as well as some promising learning opportunities — for fishermen, chefs, seafood businesses, and eaters.

“In general, most Americans are not very comfortable cooking seafood at home,” said Kate Masury, program director at the non-profit Eating with the Ecosystem. “The majority of seafood we consume in the US, about 70%, is actually consumed in restaurants. With restaurants having to limit their operations in order to maintain social distancing, that means the market for our locally caught seafood is also severely limited, which impacts our local fishermen and seafood businesses.”

“Our new online cooking classes will inspire local consumers to expand their repertoire and explore new recipes with family and friends in their own homes,” added Fred Mattera, Executive Director of the Commercial Fisheries Center. “Even more importantly, the classes will generate funds to process fish donated by the fishing industry and provide this fish to families in need.”

With the nation’s unemployment rate surpassing 11 percent, demand for food pantry services has surged. The organization Feeding America estimates that one in six Americans will experience food insecurity this year. Each ticket to a “Give a Fish, Cook a Fish!” class will purchase ten seafood meals for Rhode Island families who can’t afford to buy fish this summer.

Here’s how it works: Each weekly class session is led by a different local chef. The chef sends out a recipe and participants source all of the ingredients themselves, including the fish (organizers can provide advice on where to look). Typically, classes will center around whole fish, rather than processed fish. When class day arrives, participants connect on a video chat. Then, in kitchens across the Ocean State, they socialize, learn about local fisheries, and turn whole fish into delicious homemade meals for their families to enjoy.

How to sign up: To sign up for a “Cook a Fish, Give a Fish!” class, go to (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/112145084968). Tickets cost $75/household and all proceeds after expenses will be used to share fish to families in need.

Vineyard Wind loses backing of a fishing board, decision may have serious consequences for proposed offshore wind farm

November 21, 2018 — Vineyard Wind is facing an uphill battle to secure a key approval from Rhode Island coastal regulators for its 800-megawatt offshore wind farm after a state fishing board refused to back the $2-billion project.

The Fishermen’s Advisory Board, which advises the Coastal Resources Management Council on fishing issues related to offshore wind, voted unanimously Monday to deny its support out of fear that the layout of the project’s 84 towering wind turbines in Rhode Island Sound would close off fishing grounds that are considered some of the most productive for the state’s commercial fleet.

The proposal is now set to go before the coastal council on Nov. 27, with what’s known as a “consistency certification” on the line. Vineyard Wind has asked for a stay in proceedings, but CRMC executive director Grover Fugate made it clear at the meeting on Monday that the current layout doesn’t fit within the Rhode Island policy that guides offshore development.

“Because of the [Ocean Special Area Management Plan], we’re there to protect the [fishing] industry,” he said. “We’re there to ensure that it continues into the future.”

Even though the Vineyard Wind project would supply power to Massachusetts and be located in federal waters far from the Rhode Island coast, the state has jurisdiction through the consistency process. Under federal law, if a project would impact Rhode Island coastal resources or activities, such as fishing, it must be carried out in a way that is consistent with state policies.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

 

CFRF Completes Three Multi-Year NOAA Awards

February 24, 2015 — The following was released by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF):

The CFRF is proud to announce the successful completion of three major multi-year NOAA awards spanning the past seven years. The awards were issued through the National Marine Fisheries Service with the funding secured through efforts made by U.S. Senator Jack Reed (RI-D). The work completed under these awards focused on supporting collaborative fisheries research projects important to the sustainable management of fisheries resources in the southern New England region, and involved some 151 members of the commercial fishing industry, 108 researchers and students, and 25 fisheries managers from Rhode Island and across the region. Anna Malek Mercer, CFRF Executive Director, noted that “the projects that CFRF supported and conducted through these awards demonstrate the importance of implementing a collaborative approach to fisheries research to produce applicable results and build trust between the fishing industry, science community, and management system.”

During the seven years of work, the CFRF administered $5.8 million that supported over 30 research projects covering subjects such as conservation gear engineering, bycatch reduction, lobster settlement and recruitment, spiny dogfish stock dynamics, discard mortality estimation, fish habitat characterization, shellfish larval dynamics, industry based biological data collection, underutilized species processing, state fishery profiles, and supplementary trawl and trap surveys, among others. Fred Mattera, CFRF Vice President and owner of the Northeast Safety Training Company, noted that “CFRF has been extremely successful in conservation engineering research, establishing a rich dialogue between fishermen and gear experts that has resulted in a number of new tools to minimize bycatch and promote sustainability”.

All of the supported projects are prime examples of collaborative research, as each was carried out by teams of scientists and members of the fishing industry working together through all phases of research, from the development of the research idea, to the execution of research protocols, analysis and sharing of results, and application to management. The results of these projects were far reaching, with the Lobster and Jonah Crab Research Fleet contributing to the 2015 lobster stock assessment and development of the Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan, quahog and whelk research projects feeding data into state stock assessments and guiding management efforts, the development and distribution of modified fishing gear to reduce bycatch and improve selectivity in the small mesh trawl and dredge fisheries, and the advancement of fish habitat characterization in an area slated for offshore wind energy development. David Spencer, CFRF President and owner of the F/V Nathaniel Lee out of Newport, RI, further remarked that “The CFRF played a critical role in facilitating discussions between fishermen and scientists to develop research ideas, and ultimately in carrying those ideas through to project completion and management application.”

The CFRF will continue working to implement a collaborative approach to fisheries research, engaging the commercial fishing industry in research to address key issues in science and management. For more information about the CFRF and the projects conducted as part of the multi-year NOAA awards, please visit www.cfrfoundation.org.