From the Executive Director

Dear ROSA Community:

The Summer season has been a productive time at ROSA as we advanced two major efforts: improving fisheries and offshore wind data governance, and launching our inaugural Regional Science Program awards. These efforts reflect ROSA’s growing role as a trusted hub for regional coordination and actionable science.

In this issue of our newsletter, you will find funding support updates, the latest happenings with the Data Governance Program, updates on our Peer Review of the Research Gaps Analysis, a first look at ROSA's fifth consecutive year co-hosting a symposium at the American Fisheries Society annual meeting, and many other exciting news items. 

Looking ahead, we’re focused on leading objective and transparent science in support of the broader ocean community. We look forward to continued collaboration with partners on our new Data Governance Program and the upcoming project work getting started as part of our Regional Science Program. Together, we can set the stage for a responsible and sustainable future for our ocean.

Warm regards,

Reneé Reilly, Ph.D.

Executive Director

renee@rosascience.org

Funder and Supporter Updates

ROSA Data Governance Program

Upcoming Darwin Core Data Standard Zoom Workshops

As part of our data governance work, ROSA & Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative (RWSC) are hosting two introductory workshops on the Darwin Core data standard. Darwin Core is used to publish data to public repositories, like OBIS and GBIF, making it easier to find and reuse data. This type of data publication is often a requirement from funders and managing agencies.

Stephen Formel, an OBIS data officer and former data lead at USGS and NOAA, will join us to talk about how data standards can add value and increase the impact of your data, how Darwin Core works, and how to map it onto your data systems and workflows. Please bring your data questions and example datasets for us to explore.

We're offering the same 101 session at two different times to accommodate different schedules:

• Monday, August 25 at 1pm Eastern time (Zoom link)
• Thursday, September 4 at 10am Eastern time (registration link)

Please let us know if you cannot make either time and we'll reach out to set up a 1:1 with you. 

The ROSA, RWSC & Intertidal teams

ROSA Research Program Manager Tricia Perez

This year, ROSA Research Director Mike Pol and Research Program Manager Tricia Perez, in collaboration with a team including people from TetraTech, BOEM, NYSERDA, NMFS and other groups, both participated in the collaborative session on Offshore Wind, Fish, and Fisheries – Emerging Knowledge and Future Applications at the AFS Annual Meeting. Tricia presented on Identifying Offshore Wind and Fisheries Research Gaps Using the FishFORWRD Database, and Mike co-convened the session.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that ROSA has developed and led a session on offshore wind at the Annual Meeting. This year's presentations will be available soon, and you can view earlier sessions on our website here.

September Advisory Council Meeting

The next ROSA Advisory Council meeting will be held on Thursday, September 25th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm EST.

ROSA recently announced the recipients of its first Regional Science Program awards, selected through a competitive process with input from ROSA’s stakeholders. The funded studies will investigate larval dispersal, cumulative impacts on fisheries resources, and the operational challenges faced by commercial and recreational fisheries within offshore wind areas.

A brief overview of each project will be shared at the next ROSA Advisory Council meeting. These projects, funded by offshore wind developers through ROSA’s collaborative model with the State of New York, are designed to generate independent, accessible findings that directly address regional science needs. 

The meeting agenda is posted on the Advisory Council Meeting Page, where you can also view previous Advisory Council meeting information.

Save the Dates - Upcoming 2025 ROSA Advisory Council Meeting:

Thursday, December 18th

As a reminder, all Advisory Council meetings are open to the public; please plan to join us!

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released the report Focal Fisheries Requirements for Floating Offshore Wind Co-Design in the Gulf of Maine and the Mid-Atlantic Bight.

Thanks to grant funding received from the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC), we are proud to highlight ROSA's recent work on the collaboration led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and partner University of Maine, with the release of the report "Focal Fisheries Requirements for Floating Offshore Wind Co-Design in the Gulf of Maine and the Mid-Atlantic Bight".

The report describes results of interviews with key fishing experts from those two regions about fishing in or near a theoretical floating wind array. ROSA’s Research Director Mike Pol co-authored the report and conducted the Mid-Atlantic interviews. The fishing experts provided opinions and advice on how much room different fishing gears need to operate, including fixed gear (Gulf of Maine lobster fishery) and pelagic longline, demersal longline, gillnet, fish pots, and recreational hook-and-line (Mid-Atlantic fisheries). Also reported are self-reported comfort levels around different components of floating wind turbines (platform, anchors, mooring lines, power cables) and other fishing and transiting concerns. 

ROSA Peer Review of Research Gaps Analysis

This summer, ROSA held a peer review process with subject matter experts for the Research Gaps Analysis completed in 2024. This analysis 1.) consolidates overlapping research needs into "Summarized Research Needs." and 2.) compares the objectives of ongoing and completed projects in ROSA's Fish and Fisheries OffshoRe Wind Research Database (FishFORWRD) against these summarized needs to identify remaining research gaps. Recently peer-reviewed by 15 subject matter experts, the ROSA Research Gaps Analysis fosters a shared understanding of progress made and outstanding research required to assess the effects of offshore wind on fish and fisheries along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. This analysis and results will serve as a valuable resource for funders, researchers, and offshore developers in identifying and prioritizing critical future research needs.

ROSA is co-organizing the upcoming TechSurge on Fisheries and Benthic Monitoring, hosted by the Marine Technology Society, in partnership with Rhode Island Sea Grant, University of Rhode Island, and the Northeast Regional Ocean Council. This October 8-9 event will convene experts from across sectors to explore advancements in monitoring technologies and practices that support responsible offshore development.

The program will highlight: 

• Advancements in benthic mapping technologies
• The use of technology to transition from traditional survey methods, including highlights on new innovations
• Monitoring technologies applicable to offshore development
• A panel featuring perspectives from members of the fishing community
• Informal mentor connections to support relationship-building

The TechSurge will feature a combination of curated panels, an open call for abstracts, and the Tech Café, which is an interactive exhibit hall showcasing innovative technologies through desktop demonstrations, along with lightning talks from both industry and student participants. Click here to register. We hope you can join us!

ROSA on the ROAD

Before you go, we invite you to follow ROSA on LinkedIn and Instagram for the latest updates and information on offshore wind fisheries research and monitoring along the East Coast.