RI fishing fleet sells $200 million worth of fish

Fishing Industry Report Shows Promise, Concern

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

A new report on the Rhode Island fishing industry has revealed some positives and questions about the future of the sector.

Here are a few of the report's findings:

Rhode Island is gaining
in its reputation as a regional center
for commercial fishing services.
(ecoRI News file photo)

$201 million: annual fish sales caught by Rhode Island vessels then sold to dealers, processors, restaurants and grocers.

$562 million: annual imported fish sales to the Ocean State.

2,500: approximate number of full- and part-time fishermen in the state. Their median age is 44.

4,450: approximate number of processors, distributors and sellers employed in the industry.

Top fish sold by volume in 2010: squid, Atlantic herring, little skate, Atlantic mackerel, scup, skate, silver hake, lobster, Jonah crab.

Top fish sold by value in 2010: lobster, squid, summer flounder, quahog, monkfish, scup, sea scallop, silver hake, Atlantic mackerel.

The number of commercial fishing boats decreased from 1,488 in 2005 to 1,298 in 2010.

The report also found that Rhode Island is gaining in its reputation as a regional center for commercial fishing services such as boatyards. Other New England and mid-Atlantic ports have shrinking commercial fishing services, according to the report.

The $74,000 study was performed by Cornell University and commissioned by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF), which is based in Saunderstown.

Margaret Petruny-Parker, director of the CFRF, noted that the report showed Rhode Island's role as global leader in squid fishing. The lobster industry is also proving resilient despite the many problems facing lobstermen and the species, she said.

Despite growth as a regional commercial fishing hub and several waterfront-related businesses around the state, the age of those in the industry as well as the age of the fishing fleet are a concern.

"It worries us a little bit that we're not seeing the new blood to support this business," Petruny-Parker said.

The pilot study, she added, is already being seen as a model other states want to duplicate. The findings of which might lead to local and regional planning for fishing and other businesses, such as wind energy, that want to expand in the bay and coastal areas.

"We need to understand the opportunities for job growth and our future for the industry, infrastructure both private and public and work with other industrues using these waters," she said.

Click here for a pdf of  the report.