We have a pretty meaty update this week, with plenty of announcements, submissions, research and state updates, and general goings-on.
New Members
We’ve welcomed a few new members since our last update! The F/V Island Girl, owned by Wayne Heath, fishes conch and crab out of Townsend, VA. The Massachusetts Seafood Collaborative, formed in 2021, is a broad-based coalition of harvesters, processors, and wholesalers dedicated to the success and advancement of the entire seafood industry.
Priority Updates
- The RODA staff (and many members) attended the Boston Seafood Show last week. We had a productive happy hour with many local members hosted by the MA Seafood Collaborative and many more meetings during the show. Thanks to all who spoke with us, distributed RODA materials, and made other important connections!
- The environmental community is increasingly calling for more research and safeguards for whales in offshore wind surveys.
- Lane is in Amsterdam this week presenting at the Floating Wind Europe 2022 conference. We’re looking forward to hearing what she learns!
- The hottest topic of the moment is impact fees from offshore wind to fishing. There is a lot going on about this, from legislative inquiries to state efforts to BOEM’s ongoing “mitigation” framework development. We understand that many of you think this is being addressed late in the game, while others feel it’s too early to discuss. We’re navigating as conscientiously as possible – please reach out if you have questions or would like to link up with anything you’re hearing.
- Politico ran a decent, comprehensive article quoting RODA and several members across the country: Offshore wind is set to soar. Fishing groups want to pump the brakes.
Lawsuit Updates
- We’ll be following up this week with fundraising action, but in the meantime here’s the donation link again: https://rodafisheries.org/donate/.
- We now have a poster you can print or distribute introducing the lawsuit. Get it here!
RODA Updates
- RODA’s bylaws committee is working through language changes to our conflict of interest policy to clarify qualifications for board members.
- We’re continuing development of a position description and funding mechanisms for a new RODA west coast position. Stay tuned!
