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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;text-align:center;line-height:115%">
<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">American Seafood Harvesters Marketing Practices Survey</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:115%">A few weeks ago, we emailed you a link to a survey and asked for your help with a study about the ways seafood harvesters in America sell their catch. We are a research team from the University
of Maine, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and National Marine Fisheries Service. This email is being sent on our behalf by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:115%">If you have already responded to the short online survey, please accept our sincere thanks. If not, please fill out the questionnaire online as soon as possible. We are very grateful for your
help with this important study that would benefit the American domestic seafood sector.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><b>What are you being asked to do? </b>
If you decide to participate in this survey, you can access the survey using the link below. It will take 5 minutes to complete the survey, and your response is important. You will be asked to share your contact information, but this is voluntary. You must
be 18 years or older to participate. You may be contacted for another survey in January 2023, based on your response. Additional details about what your participation entails are provided at the bottom of this email.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%">Link to survey: <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/umaine.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5oullmgoyAX4BJs__;!!KKphUJtCzQ!ISH6hFHbhH_d2XVYluxMLQupdoT2LU5l2aTL6SCYZv7MQRH9RP8UVhtn4WZY-I5SdAEfRt40aPI3z2lwf1MnrTyamqsoZ5I8$">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;color:#0563C1">https://umaine.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5oullmgoyAX4BJs</span><span style="color:#0563C1"> [umaine.qualtrics.com]</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:115%"><b>What is the study about?
</b>Not much is known about the different ways that seafood is sold locally and directly beyond the conventional supply chains of processors and wholesalers. We hope that the survey will bring greater visibility to decision makers about the important role that
the commercial fishing sector plays in supporting the nation’s and Rhode Island’s domestic food system and seafood economy. For more details about the survey, please refer to this website:
<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/umaine.edu/marine/seafood-marketing-survey/__;!!KKphUJtCzQ!ISH6hFHbhH_d2XVYluxMLQupdoT2LU5l2aTL6SCYZv7MQRH9RP8UVhtn4WZY-I5SdAEfRt40aPI3z2lwf1MnrTyamkfZ2qnk$">
<span style="color:#0563C1">https://umaine.edu/marine/seafood-marketing-survey/ [umaine.edu]</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:115%"><b>Risks: </b>Except for your time and inconvenience, there are no risks to you from participating in this study.
<b>Benefits: </b>While there are no direct and immediate benefits to you from participating in this survey, the findings from this survey can bring additional attention to the direct seafood marketing sector, the issues it faces, and highlight the sectors’
contributions to the US economy and coastal livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:115%"><b>Confidentiality:
</b>Your response to the survey will be kept confidential. All data will be maintained securely on password-protected systems at the University of Maine. The survey data and contact information you might provide will be deleted by January 2026.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:115%"><b>Voluntary: </b>
Participation is voluntary. If you choose to respond, you may stop at any time. You may skip questions you do not wish to answer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><b>Contact Information: </b>If you have any questions about this survey please contact Dr. Sahir Advani at
<a href="mailto:sahir.advani@maine.edu"><span style="color:#0563C1">sahir.advani@maine.edu</span></a> or +1-778-223-6647. You may also reach Assistant Professor Joshua Stoll at
<a href="mailto:joshua.stoll@maine.edu"><span style="color:#0563C1">joshua.stoll@maine.edu</span></a>. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the Office of Research Compliance, University of Maine, 207-581-2657
(or e-mail <a href="mailto:umric@maine.edu"><span style="color:#0563C1">umric@maine.edu</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%">We really appreciate your help with this survey. Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Joshua Stoll</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Sahir Advani</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Assistant Professor,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Postdoctoral Researcher, </span>
<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">University of Maine</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">University of Maine</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">You are receiving this notice from the RIDEM Division of Marine Fisheries (rimarinefisheries listserve).
<b><u>This is an automated message system; please do not reply to this email</u>.</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">To subscribe to this mailing list, send email to
<a href="mailto:rimarinefisheries-subscribe@listserve.ri.gov"><span style="color:blue">rimarinefisheries-subscribe@listserve.ri.gov</span></a>. To
<b>unsubscribe</b>, send email to <</span><a href="mailto:rimarinefisheries-unsubscribe@listserve.ri.gov"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:blue">rimarinefisheries-unsubscribe@listserve.ri.gov</span></a></i><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">>
<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">If you have trouble unsubscribing, send email to <</span><a href="mailto:rimarinefisheries-owner@listserve.ri.gov"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:blue">rimarinefisheries-owner@listserve.ri.gov</span></a></i><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">To subscribe to notifications for rules and regulations noticed with Sec. of State, go
</span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://rules.sos.ri.gov/subscriptions/subscribe/all"><i><span style="color:blue">here</span></i></a><i>. For meeting notifications filed with Sec. of State, go
</i><a href="https://opengov.sos.ri.gov/OpenMeetings"><i><span style="color:blue">here</span></i></a><i>.<span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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