Names Caela Howard as Fisheries Liaison for Connecticut
Caela Howard, Fisheries Liaison
NEW BEDFORD – Vineyard Wind today announced that Caela Howard will be joining the team as Fisheries Liaison for Connecticut. Howard has spent the last decade working closely with fisheries in Connecticut and Rhode Island and in this role, will serve as the primary point of contact for fishing industry representatives in Connecticut. Howard is the latest addition to Vineyard Wind’s expanding network of Fisheries Liaisons and Representatives, and will be reporting to the company’s lead Fisheries Liaison, Crista Bank.
“Vineyard Wind is excited to welcome Caela Howard as our first Connecticut fisheries liaison,” said Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind. “Caela brings extensive experience working closely with fishermen across Southern New England and we look forward to the insight she will provide as we continue building strong relationships with fishing communities throughout the region.”
“I am thrilled to join Vineyard Wind at such an exciting time for the company and their Connecticut-based proposal,” said Caela Howard, Fisheries Liaison for Connecticut. “I look forward to using my background working with fisheries to build mutually beneficial relationships and maintain good lines of communication between the fishing industry and Vineyard Wind.”
Most recently, Howard worked alongside the Fleet Manager at the Town Dock in Narragansett, RI where she helped lead work on fishing fleets certificates, licenses and state and government reporting. Prior to that she worked as a contracted portside biological sampler for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the ports of New Bedford, MA and Point Judith, RI. Her career working with the fishing industry began with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Marine Division in 2009 where she logged extensive boat hours seining, trawling, gill netting and drift netting. She also worked on various research projects including work to analyze juvenile Shad and River Herring, and endangered Shortnose and Atlantic Sturgeon in the Connecticut and Thames Rivers and Long Island Sound. Howard earned her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and her masters in Environmental Management. Caela grew up in Clinton, CT and currently resides in Ledyard, CT with her husband and two children.
Earlier this month, Vineyard Wind submitted its Park City Wind proposal to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in response to their 2019 solicitation for offshore wind facilities. Park City Wind has the potential to deliver up to 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind power to Connecticut, enough clean energy to power over 600,000 Connecticut homes. Part of the proposal calls for Vineyard Wind to fund research in partnership with the Mystic Aquarium and the University of Connecticut’s Department of Marine Sciences to further understand the underwater noise generated by offshore wind projects and its effects on protected marine species and potential impacts on commercial fisheries.
Vineyard Wind is currently conducting extensive research to understand the effects of offshore wind on fisheries in and outside the company’s lease areas. Initial survey work began in the fall of 2018 and after consultation with fishermen and agencies, trawl surveys, drop camera surveys, ventless lobster trap, plankton and black sea bass surveys began in the spring of 2019. These surveys are being led by the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) and Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association and use commercial fishing vessels to conduct the research. Vineyard Wind has also partnered with the New England Aquarium to document highly migratory species presence across all lease areas with help from the pelagic recreational fleet.
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