JOR 221 Project 8
Could Narragansett’s Economy Benefit from Cleaner water in the Bay?
Dr. Rebecca S. Robinson explains how Narragansett’s fishing economy can benefit exponentially from a cleaner bay
By Kevin Murray
Dr. Rebecca S. Robinson, a Bio geochemist at the University of Rhode Island’s Bay campus spends her time researching and studying the cycling of biological elements with a particular focus on the marine nitrogen cycle.
According to Robinson, man-made pollution peeked in the 80s and is now recently declining; so what’s causing the pollution in Narragansett’s bay?
The 25 mile long bay has been a focal area for commercial fishing for many years, supporting Narragansett’s economy and community.
Man-made pollution may have hit its peak in the 80s but majority of the waste plaguing Narragansett Bay are wastewater treatment plants, cesspools and septic tanks according to Robinson.
Although there is still a good amount of waste from fertilizer, nitrogen waste has become a big factor for pollution in the bay as well.
Due to the harm and contamination that this pollution has caused to the water and the organisms that dwell in there, many swimming areas and shellfish beds were closed around the bay.
While there is a lack of oxygen due to an overgrowth of algae, there is an overwhelming abundance of nitrogen and phosphorus, which is also detrimental to the organisms that live there as well as the surrounding community and its economy.
The abundance of nitrogen and phosphorus become dangerous because they cause the surrounding algae to grow rapidly, causing it to use up all of the oxygen in the water according to Dr. Robinson.
Without sufficient oxygen, majority of the organisms will die resulting in the closing of many fisheries and quahogs.
These “nutrient overloads” as Dr. Robinson put it, are caused by the wastewater treatment plants and the storm water runoff systems.
Rhode Island has expressed a great concern and invested millions of dollars to maintain nutrients in the water as well as regulating the amount of nitrogen waste.
Narragansett’s commercial shell fishing is heavily affected when pollution causes their economies source of income to be shut down leaving a lot of fisherman with jobs and work.
As mentioned before, the disparity between the northern and southern parts of the bay is obviously shocking.
The implications of an overall cleaner bay show that Narragansett’s fishing economy could help its overall economy flourish.
Narragansett is in critical financial condition and could use extra sources of revenue.
Although Robinson did say that fisheries do tend to be cleaner and have less nitrogen waste, some shellfish spots have been reopened and have thrived in cleaner water.
With their reopening, Narragansett can begin to bring back revenue and continue thinking of new ways to end their pollution problem in the bay.
Robinson explains that the issue is when oxygen in the water is so low it is killing organisms then there is a problem.
Rhode Island’s efforts to regulate this issue have not gone unanswered, nitrogen waste levels have gone down, but Robinson’s studies show that although there is less waste the nitrogen is lasting longer.
Solving this issue can help boost commercial fishing in the area helping Narragansett’s financial situation.