Lincoln Chafee: “The $1 million appropriated for this project is to be used by CRMC for a Geographic Information System (GIS) software…”

“The $1 million appropriated for this project is to be used by CRMC for a Geographic Information System (GIS) software program to develop digital data on Narragansett Bay's resource conditions, availability and use. Advanced sonar technology would be employed to assess the Bay's bottom sediment types, habitat and use conflicts. A previous EPA study, the Narragansett Bay Critical Resource mapping project, was unable to collect data on bottom habitat, due to the limitations of research methods used at the time. The data collected by this project would provide CRMC with information that, combined with input from other sources, would be helpful in determining appropriate sites for aquaculture leases, a function currently hindered by inadequate data and ongoing disputes over use. The data would also be useful in making several other decisions related to marine management issues.”