With more than 140 species documented so far in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound, one of the world’s longest surveys of fish and invertebrates continues, weekly and year-round, since 1959, in catch-and-release otter-trawl samplings. The 55-year dataset documents shifts in patterns of species abundance and composition in relation to environmental conditions and fishing effort. It also chronicles changes in food web links and fishing intensity, with the observed seasonal and long-term fluctuations in populations helping to tease apart natural variability from the influence of human activity. For an estuary like Narragansett Bay, sustainable fish production depends on understanding the importance of benthic-pelagic coupling.

After 55 years of weekly, year-round, whole-water and net-tow sampling, GSO’s long term survey of the Narragansett Bay plankton is also one of the world’s longest time series on phytoplankton abundance and composition. Coupled with measurements of environmental parameters and nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations, and complemented by many years of data on abundance and composition of zooplankton populations, the survey supports decade-scale analysis of planktonic interactions and reveals patterns of variability in estuarine ecosystems.

More than fifty years of monitoring southern Rhode Island beaches and analysis of records of seasonal beach profiles shows a general decrease in beach volume except in locations where manual replenishment has occurred. A newer radar-based measurement system is replacing antiquated survey equipment allowing for collection of continuous digital elevation data across the entire beach rather than single line profile data.