Galilee at Point Judith is one of the largest fishing ports on the East Coast, generating economic and recreational value for Rhode Island, celebrating the state's commercial fishing heritage, and providing opportunities for fishing businesses to innovate and prosper. Its commercial fishing industry is protected and promoted by the state, which owns and manages the land specifically as a fishing port, preserving waterfront access and shoreside facilities that many other ports are losing to tourism and development. The port depends on symbiotic relationships among a diverse fleet of draggers, lobster boats, gill netters, fish trap boats, scallopers, and oyster farm vessels; businesses such as icehouses, fuel suppliers, welders, engine mechanics, net makers, safety trainers, bait aggregators, seafood dealers, processors, freezers, seafood markets, and wholesalers; and related activity including dockside sales, gear storage and maintenance, oyster farming, and marine engine and gear design. Restaurants, party and charter boats, and the Block Island ferry, which has made the 13-mile voyage between Block Island and Galilee since 1936, also support a thriving tourist economy, while the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, United States Coast Guard, and National Marine Fisheries Service help assure safety at sea and sound fisheries management.
