Fisheries Engineering 
The Fisheries Engineering Group is part of the Protected Resources Division
of the Northeast Regional Office of NMFS, and is located on the East Farm
Campus of the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. The group provides
engineering and gear expertise to the Northeast Regional Office, the Northeast Fisheries
Science Center, and management agencies. The main areas of emphasis are reducing the
entanglement of large marine mammals in fishing gear and providing passage
for anadromous fish in our rivers and streams. Gear research on the entanglement
problem is aimed at devising equipment and proposing changes in fishing
techniques which will allow whales to escape when they encounter fixed
fishing gear. This is being done in cooperation with the fishing industry
in support of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. Fish passage
activities involve working with dam owners and various resource agencies
to design and develop effective fishways. These allow salmon, shad, and
other anadromous and catadromous species access to essential habitat for
spawning and other life stages.
Entangled Whale - Photo by Glenn Salvador
Fisheries Engineering personnel John Kenney and Al Blott with assistance
from Dan Mckiernan of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
conduct baleen/rope slippage measurements
on the right whale "Staccato" which was killed by a ship strike in May of
1999.
Fish Weir - Photo by Alan Blott
A recently finished salmon weir and trap on the Pleasant River in eastern
Maine which will allow the separation of aquaculture escapees from wild
Atlantic salmon during upstream migration. A smolt trap is being designed
for this weir which will aid in the study of downstream migrating salmon
smolts.
For further information, contact Alan J. Blott: Alan.Blott@noaa.gov
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