Fishing & Working Waterfront
Supporting Rhode Island’s Fishermen and Revitalizing Our Working Waterfront
Rhode Island’s fishing industry is critical to our economy and our communities.
Senator Reed has worked to support Rhode Island fishermen and lobstermen, who face significant challenges and risks as they work hard to earn a living.
A member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, which oversees federal spending on the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Reed has secured millions of dollars in federal funding to boost collaborative research between fishermen and researchers to address challenges facing Southern New England fisheries. He also introduced the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Fairness Act to give Rhode Island fishermen a seat at the table of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), a government board that establishes fishery management rules for federal waters off the mid-Atlantic coast.
Read More »Reed has worked to conserve Rhode Island’s coastal waters so that our families, fishermen, and visitors can continue to enjoy the state’s natural resources. And recognizing the important role the marine industry plays in Rhode Island, Senator Reed has supported efforts to help grow Rhode Island’s marine workforce and revitalize our working waterfront, which supports boating and fishing jobs.
Key Priorities & Accomplishments
- Healthy fish populations depend upon strong science-based catch limits and Senator Reed has worked to secure over $6 million in federal funding for collaborative fisheries research to collect more accurate fisheries data along the northeastern United States.
- Reed has worked at the federal level to help protect the health of Narragansett Bay and secured over $1 million for researchers to study hypoxia, or “dead-zones” that have resulted in large fish kills, and develop strategies to prevent and control the problem.
- Senator Reed secured federal funding in the fiscal year 2009 Appropriations bill to help the Rhode Island Rural Development Council (RIRDC), DEM, and Farm Fresh Rhode Island market and promote Rhode Island locally grown and harvested goods -- including seafood -- and build stronger ties between fishermen, farmers, and consumers.
- To strengthen Rhode Island’s marine heritage and revitalize Newport’s working waterfront, Reed secured $500,000 to help the non-profit International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) expand its vocational training facilities and help provide sustainable careers for more Rhode Islanders.
The Latest
-
Reed, Murkowski Urge Emergency Federal Funding for Fisheries Disasters
In an effort to help Rhode Island fishermen and fishing communities across the country, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) are leading a bipartisan effort calling on the Obama Administration to support emergency federal funding for fisheries disasters that were...
Posted on 2/14/2013 | -
U.S. Senate Approves $60.4 Billion Emergency Relief Bill
The U.S. Senate voted 61 to 33 for a $60.4 billion Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill to help Rhode Island and other states clean up and recover from damage left in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse voted for the legis...
Posted on 12/28/2012 | -
Reed, Whitehouse Urge Emergency Federal Funding for Fisheries Disasters
In an effort to help Rhode Island fishermen, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that $150 million is included in the Senate Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill for several fisheries disasters declared in the past year. The Northeast commercia...
Posted on 12/14/2012 | -
Delegation Announces $6 Million to Repair Storm Damage & Help Protect Businesses at Quonset
NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today joined with Governor Lincoln Chafee to announce $6 million in federal funding for the Quonset Development Corporation in North Kingstown and the Rhode Island Departmen...
Posted on 12/10/2012 | -
Reed Visits Senesco Marine LLC Ship Yard
September 21, 2012...
Posted on 9/21/2012 | -
Reed Tours Renovated Commercial Fisheries Center
September 21, 2012...
Posted on 9/21/2012 | -
Northeast Fishery Disaster Funding Letter
In a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker John Boehner, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Senator Jack Reed and 22 of his congressional colleauges called on Congress to assist fishermen and the fishing community in the Northeast. Text of the letter is below...
Posted on 9/17/2012 |