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News
Updated September 22, 2008
For more information on any of the items listed here, please
contact Rhode Island Sea Grant Communications at (401) 874-6842.
Upcoming Sea Grant events
September 25 & 27
Coastweeks trawl trips offer public a taste of commercial fishing
The trips, which run from 8:30 a.m. to noon, are $30 per person and moderately strenuous, so are recommended for adults and children 12 and over. Boots or sneakers are recommended (no sandals please). The trips leave from Wickford Shipyard, 125 Steamboat Ave., Wickford. Advance reservations are required by calling Jean Gallo at (401) 874-6842. .
October 1
Fishing into the Future: Challenges of Supply, Demand and the Environment
The guest speaker for this evening will be Philip MacMullen, Seafish Industry Authority, U.K. Come and join the discussion about what the fishing industry and the wider seafood supply chain can do and is doing in order to define best practices, strengthen traceability and build confidence in the local and worldwide marketplace.
Time: 6:30‐8:30 p.m.
Location: Hazard Rooms A and B, Coastal Institute, URI Narragansett Bay Campus Free. Refreshments provided.
Co‐hosted by the Rhode Island Sea Grant Fisheries Extension Program, RI Commercial Fisheries Center and the Commercial Fishermen’s Research Foundation. Contact Kathy Castro for more information: (401) 874‐5063 or . Sponsored by the Northeast Consortium and New Hampshire Sea Grant Program.
October 17
Informational Workshop on VHS, Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia
The New York and Rhode Island Sea Grant programs have organized a one-day informational meeting on VHS to summarize current state of knowledge: distribution, viral dynamics, infection routes, population impacts, disease pathology, and diagnostic tools. This workshop is intended for marine Extension and fish health professionals.
Time: 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Location: Hazard Rooms A and B, Coastal Institute, URI Narragansett Bay Campus
October 23-24
7th Marine Law Symposium: A Viable Marine Renewable Energy Industry: Solutions to Legal, Economic, and Policy Challenges
This two-day symposium will explore the means to achieve a viable marine renewable energy industry for the United States with a focus on offshore wind, hydrokinetics (wave, current and tidal), and ocean thermal energy conversion. Its panels will discuss possible solutions for the nascent U.S. marine renewable energy sector’s legal, economic and policy challenges. These include jurisdictional issues and permitting/licensing schemes; research and development for environmental, technological and human dimension issues; economic/financial incentives; and the role of the public and nongovernmental organizations in these areas.
News
 Narragansett Bay book available on Amazon.com
Science for Ecosystem-based Management: Narragansett Bay in the 21st Century is available from . The book addresses the broad problem of coastal nutrient pollution. In the United States, approximately two-thirds of the coastal rivers and bays are moderately to severely degraded from nutrient pollution. However, debates continue about how large a problem nutrient pollution is and what actions to take, and since effective management requires decisions at a local scale, an in-depth case study can provide valuable guidance. For more information on the book, .
URI fish-saving device pulls in $30,000 prize for American winner of International Smart Gear Competition
New invention - “The Eliminator” - exploits fish behavior to haul in haddock, while keeping other fish out of trawls
 WASHINGTON, November 15, 2007 – A team of Rhode Island inventors today will be awarded the grand prize in the for a fishing gear innovation that could save thousands of fish and other sea creatures from dying accidentally in fishing nets each year, World Wildlife Fund and its partners announced. The winners will be officially announced in Seattle today at the Pacific Marine Expo.
The Grand Prize winning team consists of University of Rhode Island Fisheries Center researchers and Rhode Island Sea Grant Sustainable Fisheries Extension staff Laura Skrobe and David Beutel and fishermen Jon Knight, Phil Ruhle Sr., Phil Ruhle Jr., and Jim O’Grady. Their invention—aptly named “The Eliminator”—captures haddock while reducing the accidental netting of other marine species. The device works by taking advantage of the haddock’s tendency to swim upward but not over the headrope when encountering the large mesh net invention, instead of swimming downward where they can escape the net, which is the tendency of other fish. The Grand Prize winners beat out more than 70 other contenders from 22 countries.
“The collaborative design and development of the Eliminator trawl is a great example of industry and scientists working together with managers to develop innovative solutions to reduce or eliminate bycatch,” said Beutel. “We’re excited to be receiving this award and look forward to continuing to research effective ways of reducing bycatch in fishing.”
Every year millions of tons of fish die and are discarded as unwanted catch, called bycatch. Hundreds of thousands of marine animals are also killed through destructive fishing practices.
“WWF created the International Smart Gear Competition to reward and inspire innovative ideas to reduce fisheries bycatch,” said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of World Wildlife Fund. “Bycatch is a critical environmental and economic problem. These inventions have shown to be effective solutions in our efforts to make fishing 'smarter' and we’re pleased to honor their creators today.”
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2008 Knauss Fellows head to Washington
Rhode Island Sea Grant is sending four graduate students to Washington, D.C., for one-year, $41,500, National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships. Marselle Alexander-Ozinskas, Karen Hyun, Jennifer Mehaffey, and Christine Patrick are among 48 Knauss Fellows who will begin working in the federal government on marine and coastal issues starting February 1, 2008.
John A. Knauss Fellowship opportunity announced for 2009
The National Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship was established to provide a unique educational experience to students enrolled in graduate programs in fields related to marine or Great Lakes studies. The program matches highly qualified graduate students with "hosts" in the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, or appropriate associations/institutions located in the Washington, DC area. For one year the recipients work on substantive national policy issues related to aquatic resources. The recipients are officially designated Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellows, after the University of Rhode Island's legendary Dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography. For more information, visit or download the .
Latest issue of 41°N focuses on underwater mapping
The latest edition of 41°N, the magazine of the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program and the University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute, features Narragansett Bay mapping techniques and the MapCoast Partnership. To read the magazine on-line, visit . To receive 41°N by mail (free to Rhode Island residents), contact Jean Gallo at or (401) 874-6842.
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University of Rhode Island