Category: Meeting Information

Sustainable Water Quality Solutions Project Introduction and Brainstorming Session

Exploring Sustainable Water Quality Solutions for Upper Narragansett Bay:
Project Intro & Brainstorming Session
Tuesday December 2, 2014: 1-4 PM
Narragansett Bay Commission
Providence, RI

You are cordially invited to a meeting to brainstorm future opportunities for the restoration and sustainable water quality management of Upper Narragansett Bay on Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 1 to 4 PM at the Narragansett Bay Commission headquarters in Providence, RI.

Background
The Rhode Island Bays, Rivers and Watersheds Coordination Team has launched a stakeholders process to identify sustainable, cost-effective management and restoration strategies that will further improve water quality and the overall ecological health of upper Narragansett Bay.

Phase one of the stakeholders process seeks to 1) identify, examine, and evaluate four to five ecosystem-based approaches that could be undertaken within the bay or along the coastline that will improve water and habitat quality , 2) identify data and research gaps regarding the most promising approaches, and 3) develop consensus on which approaches merit further pursuit and planning.

To lead this process, the Coordination Team has convened a Project Steering Committee (PSC) consisting of the organizations and individuals whose input, participation, and consensus is most needed to select and approve the most promising approaches. The PSC is supported by the Horsley Witten Group and the Consensus Building Institute.

Purpose
The PSC and consultants have initially identified four ecosystem­based management categories that merit further research and consideration:

o Shellfish & Macroalgae Cultivation & Restoration
o Reducing Tidal & Circulatory Restrictions
o Restoring Wetlands
o Enhancing Buffer Zones & Shorelines
o Stormwater Management & Green Infrastructure

This kick-off meeting will convene scientists, technical experts, and management officials with a diversity of technical expertise to share and discuss their questions, ideas, and knowledge on these categories of alternative strategies for restoring the water quality, habitats, and ecological integrity of Upper Narragansett Bay. Meeting participants will be encouraged to brainstorm and share additional options and ideas that warrant further consideration. Findings from the meeting will be used to organize a series of targeted, topical workshops to be held in the first half of 2015.

Attached here is a draft meeting agenda.

If you can possibly join us, please RSVP by Wednesday, November 26 to:

Kimberly Kirwan
kimberly.kirwan@narrabay.com
401 468 8848 x391

If you cannot join us, let us know if there is someone that we should invite in your place.
Thank you in advance for joining us. We look forward to a productive meeting!

PSC Members:
Angelo Liberti & Sue Kiernan Department of Environmental Management
Tom Uva & Pamela Reitsma Narragansett Bay Commission
Ames Colt Bays, Rivers, and Watersheds Coordination Team
Jeff Willis Coastal Resources Management Council
Jared Rhodes Statewide Planning
Tom Borden Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
Hal Walker EPA ORD Atlantic Ecology Division
Mark Nelson & Stacie Smith Horsley Witten Group & Consensus Building Institute

Notice of Public Meeting 10-29-14

Shared on behalf of Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Agriculture

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
Division of Agriculture
Notice of Public Meeting – Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 3:30 PM

Notice is hereby given that a public hearing regarding the Local Agriculture and Seafood Act (LASA) Small Grants and Technical Assistance Program will be held in Room 300 of the RI Department of Environmental Management, at 235 Promenade Street, Providence, Rhode Island.

The purpose of this hearing is to accomplish the purposes of RIGL 2-25-8 which requires the Department to annually schedule and conduct one or more public meetings to solicit input from the general public on whether the program is meeting its intended purposes, and to solicit recommendations for modifying the program.

AGENDA:

  • General overview of the program (Ken Ayars, DEM)
  • Grant round #1 overview (Leo Pollock, RI Food Policy Council)
  • Group breakouts:
  1. Discussion relative to 2015 round #2 priorities
  2. Discussion relative to outreach strategy for 2015 round #2
  • Wrap up & next steps (Ken Ayars & Leo Pollock)

Written comments are welcome and may be emailed to LASA@dem.ri.gov or mailed to/dropped off at the Division of Agriculture office at 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 until Wednesday, November 12th at 4:00 pm. Email submissions are strongly preferred. All oral and written comments will be considered in the same manner.

NOTES: If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Ken Ayars, Chief, Division of Agriculture, 222-2781 ext. 4500, ken.ayars@dem.ri.gov, or Nicole Pollock, Assistant to the Director, 222-4700 ext. 2038, nicole.pollock@dem.ri.gov.

The meeting location is accessible to handicapped persons. If you require interpreter services for the hearing impaired, please request by contacting TDD number 222-1205 or #711 (R.I. Relay), at least 3 days in advance of the meeting.

Public Input Sought on New State Plan to Improve Shellfish Resources

Public Input Sought on New State Plan to Improve Shellfish Resources

Plan topics include research, shellfish restoration, and industry supported activities

The public is invited to review a draft of Rhode Island’s first comprehensive set of management recommendations for shellfish resources, both wild harvest and aquaculture, located in state ocean waters, and provide comments. The review process is a key topic of the SMP Stakeholder Public Meeting scheduled for tonight, Monday, September 29, 5-7pm, Corless Auditorium, URI Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, RI. Other topics include SMP progress and actions over the last year, chapter overviews, future steps, and summer highlights from industry leaders and state agencies. Find the preliminary version of the Rhode Island Shellfish Management Plan (SMP) and comment form at http://www.rismp.org/the-plan/.

Comments will be accepted through November 1. “We encourage anyone who cares about the future of all things shellfish in Rhode Island – from the shellfish resources themselves to the industries that depend on them to the recommendations for how we can work together to improve shellfishing – to come out for this meeting,” said Azure Cygler, project manager for the SMP, of the URI (Graduate School of Oceanography) Coastal Resources Center (CRC), who also represents the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program.

The SMP process began in 2013 to provide comprehensive policy guidance regarding management and protection measures for shellfish, such as quahogs and oysters, located in state marine waters, with the full plan expected to be completed this fall. Throughout the process, stakeholders – including representatives of the wild harvest, aquaculture and restoration communities — have been closely involved in identifying policies and practices to restore shellfish resources and enhance the economic vitality of the shellfishing industry. The plan will be updated as new research and information becomes available. A special celebration to honor the creation of the plan is being developed. For more information on the SMP, contact Cygler at (401) 874-6197 or azure@crc.uri.edu.

The SMP contains recommendations which have been crafted by technical teams and facilitated by CRC and the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program for use by two key state agencies: the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM). Key partners are URI College of Environmental Sciences (URI-CELS), Roger Williams University and the URI Coastal Institute. Funders are the Prospect Hill Foundation, the Rhode Island Foundation, the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, and the Sharpe Family Foundation/Henry and Peggy Sharpe. Input throughout has been provided generously by leaders in the industry, including the Rhode Island Shellfishermen’s Association and the Ocean State Aquaculture Association.

June 19th Webinar: Social Media Tips for Direct Marketing of Farmed Seafood

Shared on behalf of the National Sea Grant Law Center

A Social Media Tips for Direct Marketing Aquaculture Products webinar will be held June 19th, 2014 at 5:00 pm. Speakers will provide information on how to use social media to sell aquaculture products directly to customers and the legal issues associated with this marketing.

To watch please click here! Use the meeting number: 195 528 184 to tune in.

Audio connection is also available at 1-415-655-0001.

Harvesters Help Find Quahogs

From Rhode Island Sea Grant

Dale Leavitt, a researcher and faculty member at Roger Williams University, has calibrated bullrakes used by commercial clam harvesters to compare assessments made by hydraulic dredges used by RI Department of Environmental Management to assess population.

This is the first part of research to better understand where quahogs in the Bay come from and travel to manage potential spawning and settlement areas.

“We wanted to look at assessment tools to take advantage of the commercial fishing fleet and see if there was an alternative for stock assessment,” said Leavitt in a presentation at the Shellfish Management Plan stakeholder meeting in April. “But we needed to see if a bullrake could be used to give accurate measurements.”

The trick, Leavitt said, is knowing how much of the bottom was sampled by a bullrake to make accurate comparisons with a hydraulic dredge used by RI DEM. In order to do that, Leavitt has found a way to “calibrate” harvesters so their data seamlessly meshed with those of RI DEM.

This new methodology allows commercial quahoggers to collect scientifically valid population assessment data and present that for use in official state stock assessments.

Research will continue this summer and will also look at circulation patters to predict quahog dispersal.

This project is supported by RI Sea Grant, the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) and the Southern New England Collaborative Research Initiative (SNECRI).

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