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Rhode Island Sea Grant to spend $6.1 million on research, outreach in state March 20, 2006 Contact: Monica Allard Cox Many of the research projects seek to better understand Narragansett Bay, from mapping the seafloor, to anticipating what impacts Providence's combined sewage overflow abatement program will have, to determining when, where, and how people are using the Bay for recreation. Two projects address water quality--one in the Bay and one in the salt ponds--by examining how water flows in those systems and carries contaminants with it. Another project examines how nutrient enrichment of salt marshes increases plant growth, and in turn, whether this increase attracts more insects that feed on the plants, thereby degrading the marsh. Two projects focus on fisheries--one creates a multispecies model to help fishery managers better understand the interactions among predator and prey species to improve decision making. The other brings lobstermen into URI's Policy Simulation Laboratory to determine what the consequences of certain management decisions would be on the market, the industry, and the stocks. Rhode Island Sea Grant's outreach programs focus on two themes--sustainable fisheries and sustainable coastal communities and ecosystems. The Sustainable Fisheries Extension Program has been designated the Sea Grant network's regional and national leader for fisheries extension, and is conducting educational workshops, collaborating with fishermen on research to reduce bycatch, addressing lobster shell disease, gathering species status information from fishermen, and educating handlers and consumers on safe seafood handling. The Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems Extension (SUCCESS) Program is working with the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council and with Cranston, East Providence, Pawtucket, and Providence on a regional regulatory and action plan for urban northern Narragansett Bay that supports economic redevelopment, habitat protection, and public access. SUCCESS is helping those cities to bolster their hurricane and coastal flooding mitigation plans and is also teaching Aquidneck Island citizens smart growth tools and leadership skills to enhance regional planning projects. The Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program, based at Roger Williams University, will contribute research and analysis of ocean and coastal laws and policies, continue to offer innovative education and training for students in marine law and policy, and provide legal outreach to Sea Grant constituents through the SUCCESS and Sustainable Fisheries programs. "Thanks to continued funding from NOAA and match from URI and the state, we will be able to support an exciting array of activities important to stakeholders in Rhode Island, New England, and the nation. I'm very pleased with the caliber of our new research investments, and with the growing maturity of our continuing investments in sustainable fisheries, coastal communities, marine law, the ecosystems ecology of coastal lagoons and estuaries, marine technologies, and the physical oceanography of our Bay and coastal ocean. Our annual Sea Grant Science Symposium will continue to be a focus as Rhode Island Sea Grant evolves into a more cohesive, science-based think tank," says Barry Costa-Pierce, Rhode Island Sea Grant director. Rhode Island Sea Grant is part of NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program, a national effort to promote the conservation and sustainable development of marine resources for the public benefit. For more information on Rhode Island Sea Grant-funded projects, contact Costa-Pierce at (401) 874-6800, or visit http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu. See http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/research/projects.html for descriptions of currently funded research. ### Return to News |