URI Coastal Resources CenterRhode Island Sea Grant, January 2016
40
[wind] project‐related; rather, they’re saying ‘Let’s pull something from this that enables us to
be more effective in managing our own future.’”
The next two sections describe examples in which FAB members and other fishermen
have drawn on the Ocean SAMP to seemingly further the interests of their industry, both within
the realm of marine spatial planning and beyond.
1. Protecting Vital Fishing Grounds in Federal Waters
Cox Ledge, an area in federal waters to the southeast of Rhode Island, is heavily used by
both commercial and recreational fisheries. “Cox’s Ledge is the backbone of the ecosystem – of
the multitude of species that migrate through southern New England,” says fisherman Fred
Mattera.
13
CRMC’s Dave Beutel explained how, throughout the Ocean SAMP development process,
fishermen emphasized the importance of this area to their activities and thus may have
assumed it was off the table for wind farm development. Hence, they were dismayed to learn
in December 2010 that BOEM’s newly‐released map of the Call Area see Figure 2, which would
eventually become the RIMA WEA, included this valuable fishing area.
13
This area is formally named and denoted on nautical charts as “Cox Ledge,” but many fishermen and others with local
knowledge describe it as “Cox’s Ledge”.
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16
Call Area Sou
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41
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25
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16
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42
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2. S
