Tuesday Talks-Surveying Our Waters: How Our Fisheries Are Changing- Conor McManus, Chief, Division of Marine Fisheries, RIDEM

Rhode Island is home to a wide variety of marine fish and invertebrate species, many of which support commercial and recreational harvest. Sound scientific data on these species and their habitats are needed to inform how their life history characteristics and populations have changed through time. Such data are used to inform stock assessments and ultimately the management of the marine species. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Marine Fisheries serves as the lead agency in monitoring and managing Rhode Island’s marine fish and invertebrates. The Division uses a variety of survey methods to sample marine species at different life stages and across numerous habitats throughout Rhode Island state waters. Here, I present several of the surveys that we use to monitor marine species, how certain species have responded to various environmental change, and some of the work the Division conducts around Block Island both independently and collaboratively.