Honoring the economic and cultural value of Rhode Island's shellfish
Governor Raimondo and Secretary of Commerce Pryor recently have launched cutting-edge incentives to spark the innovation economy in Rhode Island as the second, “Advanced Industries & Innovation” phase of the WAVE.
Opportunities may be available though this program to the shellfish sectors.
To see full details click here.
According to RI DEM Conditional Area’s A and B and the Conimicut Triangle in Upper Narragansett Bay. The areas were closed on August 4th as a result of “rainfall and a bypass that occurred at the Narragansett Bay Commission’s (NBC) Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Facility.” The area was re-opened on Saturday, August 8th at sunrise, Greenwich Bay, Mt. Hope Bay and Kickemuit River will re-open at noon on August 11, 2015.
Go to RI DEM to view the press release or go the the RI DEM Shellfish page shows where shellfishing is allowed in Narragansett Bay.
DEM annual re-classification of shellfish waters and seasonal closures – Improved water quality leads to two areas open in Newport and Westerly.
In response to SMP stakeholder requests, DEM added a layer to their interactive map that includes coordinates for all the corners, points and intersections of closure lines for each of the closure descriptions in addition to their usual reference descriptions. These are provided as an aid to locating closure lines however the written description within the notice is the legal description in determining where the closure lines are. See the DEM Notice of Polluted Shellfishing Grounds May 2015.
More info and a new interactive mapping portal are available here or by calling DEM’s Office of Water Resources at 222-3961.
Shared on behalf of the RI Department of Environmental Management
For Release: February 25, 2015
Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402
PROVIDENCE – The Department of Environmental Management announces that conditionally-approved areas of Mount Hope Bay and the Kickemuit River will be closed to shellfishing beginning at sunrise on Thursday, February 26. DEM enacted the emergency closure because an estimated 600,000 gallons of non-disinfected effluent was discharged todayfrom the Fall River Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility between 8:50 a.m. and 9:50 a.m. Officials from the Massachusetts facility notified DEM’s Office of Water Resources this morning of the disinfection system failure.
Specifically, the closure will affect the following waters: All waters of the Kickemuit River and Mt. Hope Bay south of a line from the range marker at the eastern extension of Patterson Avenue in the Laurel Park section of Warren to the flagpole on the opposite eastern shore on the property of #61 Asylum Road in Touisset, and north and west of a line from Bristol Point to the Buoy “R4” channel marker located on the southerly side of the Mount Hope Bay channel, that intersects with a line from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management range marker located approximately midway on Touisset Point to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management range marker located on Common Fence Point in Portsmouth.
DEM plans to reopen the conditionally approved areas of Mount Hope Bay and the Kickemuit River to shellfishing at sunrise on Thursday, March 5, weather permitting.
DEM maintains a 24-hour shellfishing hotline with recorded updated information on shellfish closure areas. That number is 222-2900.
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To read the full press release, please click here.
Join Us on September 29th to Give Input on the RI Shellfish Management Plan
Please join us for a public meeting to discuss the RI Shellfish Management Plan (SMP) on Monday, September 29th, 5pm-7pm in Corless Auditorium at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. At this meeting, we will announce the completed Shellfish Management Plan ready for public review, discuss SMP progress and actions over the last year, glimpse into each chapter, and discuss future steps in an open forum. We also will hear summer highlights from industry leaders and get inspired from Director Coit. Refreshments will be served prior to the event. All are welcome, but space is limited so please RSVP to smp@etal.uri.edu
To view the SMP chapters currently available for public review, please click here.
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Thank you to our partners and sponsors: Rhode Island Foundation, Sharpe Family Foundation, Prospect Hill Foundation, van Beuren CharitableFoundation, Rhode Island Department of Environment Management, Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute, University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center, and Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program.
For more information about the SMP, please click here.