Fishing in Galilee, RI: Inside the Commercial Port
Scarborough, Galilee, and Jerusalem are villages inside the Town of Narragansett, Rhode Island -- not a separate town -- and this site's Narragansett fishing page already covers the recreational side of that corner of town well: Camp Cronin Fishing Area, the named charter boats Frances Fleet and C-Devil II Sportfishing running out of 33 State Street in Galilee, The Fisherman magazine's hot-spot writeup of Narragansett's rocky shoreline, the Narragansett Surfcasters club, and Maridee Canvas-Bait & Tackle. Rather than repeat any of that, this page goes deeper on what Galilee actually is at its core: Rhode Island's largest commercial fishing port, a working waterfront with a real fleet size, real statewide dollar figures, a real 2024 federal resilience grant, a real 2017 storm story, named seafood markets where the catch comes straight off the boats, and a state park whose name literally honors the fishermen who work these waters. For current recreational fishing regulations, licenses, seasons, and catch limits, go directly to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) rather than relying on a page like this one.
The Port of Galilee: Roughly 240 Boats, Rhode Island’s Largest Fishing Fleet
This site's Narragansett pages already establish the baseline: Galilee is home to Rhode Island's largest commercial fishing fleet, moving more than 16 million pounds of seafood and shellfish annually through a port built out over the 19th and 20th centuries with dredging, stone jetties, and a three-mile Army Corps of Engineers breakwater system. What that page does not put a fleet-size number on, this one does -- per National Fisherman, the Port of Galilee is homeport to roughly 240 fishing vessels and crews, a scale that puts real weight behind the "largest in Rhode Island" claim rather than leaving it as an unquantified superlative.
That fleet is why Galilee reads less like a beach village with boats in it and more like a working industrial waterfront that happens to sit next to state beaches and a ferry terminal. The commercial docks, the ice houses, the fuel docks, and the seafood markets discussed below all exist to serve those roughly 240 boats and the crews who run them, day in and day out, regardless of tourist season.
What the Fleet Is Worth: Two Real Statewide Figures, Two Different Years
Two separate, credible sources put real dollar figures on Rhode Island's commercial fishing industry, and they should be read as two different years and two possibly different accounting methods rather than one reconciled number. Per a Boston Globe analysis published July 3, 2023, Rhode Island's statewide commercial fishing industry was worth $100.6 million in 2022 (about a 10% inflation-adjusted decline from 2021), broken down by top species: longfin squid and illex led at $41.1 million on 31.5 million pounds (up 13%), followed by sea scallop at $18.3 million on 1.4 million pounds (down 41%), American lobster and Jonah crab at $12.5 million on 3.6 million pounds (down 12%), summer flounder at $5.7 million on 2.1 million pounds (down 5%), and quahog clams at $4.7 million on 17.7 million clams (up 9%).
Separately, per a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management press release dated November 25, 2024, the state's commercial fishing industry generated $81.7 million in ex-vessel value during 2023. Neither figure is Galilee-specific -- both describe Rhode Island's fishing industry statewide -- but since Galilee is documented as home to the state's largest fleet, these numbers meaningfully size up what that fleet is worth to the state. Treat the $100.6 million (2022, Boston Globe, total industry value) and $81.7 million (2023, RI DEM, ex-vessel value) figures as separate, labeled numbers from different years and possibly different accounting methods -- not as a single trend line or a contradiction to resolve.
A 2024 Federal Grant, and a 2017 Storm the Port Still Remembers
The port's infrastructure is getting real, current, dated investment. Per that same November 25, 2024 RI DEM press release, Rhode Island was awarded $15.5 million from FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, matched with state funds for a total $17.2 million project to strengthen climate resilience at the state's marine facilities. The project will elevate structures at the Port of Galilee and the Wickford Dock, and will replace a total of eight docks across three DEM marine facilities: the Port of Galilee itself, the Division of Marine Fisheries' own Jerusalem facility, and the Division of Law Enforcement's Wickford Marine Base. That grant independently confirms something worth knowing on its own -- Jerusalem has its own named DEM Division of Marine Fisheries facility, distinct from Galilee's docks, already documented briefly on this site's Narragansett boating page and worth noting here as directly fishing-relevant infrastructure. Separately, a 2017 press release from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's office references Rhode Island receiving funds to continue infrastructure improvements at the Port of Galilee -- an earlier, separate funding round from the 2024 FEMA grant, not a continuation of the same named project.
The port has also weathered real damage. Per Wikipedia's Galilee, Rhode Island entry, a 100-foot wind turbine at the port was toppled during an intense winter storm on March 14, 2017, when high winds snapped the turbine's supporting metal structure in half, causing widespread local power outages. It is a small, dated, sourced reminder that a working waterfront exposed to open ocean takes real weather damage, not just a postcard backdrop.
Where the Catch Comes Off the Boat: George’s of Galilee and Champlin’s Seafood Deck
Two named, long-running businesses put a face on the "16 million pounds a year" figure by selling fish that comes straight off Galilee's docks. George's of Galilee, at 250 Sand Hill Cove Road, was founded in 1948 when Norman and Edna Durfee bought George's Lunch, a coffee shop where local fishermen gathered, from George Hazard and turned it into a seafood restaurant using family recipes -- per the restaurant's own history page, the Durfee family traces a ten-generations-old, clear-broth quahog chowder recipe and helped establish Rhode Island-style clam chowder as its own distinct category. Champlin's Seafood Deck, at 256 Great Island Road, opened in 1944 as a clam shack and today runs as a seasonal, family-run restaurant (per the business's own site, Robert J. and Patricia A. Mitchell, with sons Robert Jr. and Tommy) alongside an adjacent retail and wholesale seafood market that sells fish unloaded at Champlin's own landing docks in Galilee.
Both are real, verified, dockside seafood businesses rather than generic restaurant listings -- and both sit within the broader claim, already used on this site's Narragansett pages, that over 10 seafood restaurants operate in Galilee. This research independently confirmed George's and Champlin's by name and history; it did not independently verify a complete roster of ten-plus named restaurants, so read "over 10" as the general, sourced claim and George's and Champlin's as two specific, verified examples behind it, not as a full list.
Fishermen’s Memorial State Park: A Name Earned by a Real Tuna Tournament
Fishermen's Memorial State Park and Campground sits in Galilee, already noted briefly on this site's Narragansett fishing page as sharing the village with the Block Island Ferry terminal. Its name is not generic -- per Rhode Island State Parks' own history page, the park honors "all the fishermen -- commercial and sports -- of the Narragansett area," and it specifically commemorates a local tuna tournament that began in 1958, was popular through the 1960s and 1970s, and, per that same source, continues today "in a much reduced form." That is a real, sourced, decades-long thread connecting the park's name to an actual sport-fishing tradition tied to this working port, not just a memorial plaque with no story behind it.
Land acquisition for the park began in 1953 under Governor Dennis Roberts, and the park was officially dedicated in 1970 by Governor Frank Licht, on land that had previously been Fort Greene, a World War II-era coastal-defense installation. This page does not have a current, confirmed campground site count, camping fee, or reservation-availability figure -- check ReserveAmerica's own Fishermen's Memorial Campground listing or RI State Parks directly for current numbers before planning a trip.
What This Page Does Not Re-Cover, and Where to Go for It
This site's Narragansett fishing page already covers the recreational side of this same corner of town in real depth: Camp Cronin Fishing Area's Army Corps of Engineers history and repair timeline, The Fisherman magazine's named surfcasting spots and its genuine safety warning about Narragansett's rocky shoreline, the Narragansett Surfcasters club, the named charter boats Frances Fleet and C-Devil II Sportfishing at 33 State Street in Galilee, and Maridee Canvas-Bait & Tackle for gear. The Galilee Boat Launch -- rebuilt in 2014, no fee, roughly 50 trailer-parking spaces -- is also already documented there; this page does not re-explain it. Go to that page for shore access, boat rentals, and tackle; come to this page for the commercial-port story behind the boats you see docked when you visit.
For current recreational fishing regulations, licenses, seasons, and catch and size limits, go directly to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) rather than relying on this page or any other general-interest site.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Galilee's status as home to Rhode Island's largest commercial fishing fleet (16 million-plus pounds of seafood and shellfish annually) is drawn from this site's own Narragansett, RI competitive research file. The Port of Galilee's fleet size (roughly 240 fishing vessels and crews) is per National Fisherman. Statewide commercial fishing value figures are presented as two separate, labeled sources: $100.6 million in 2022 total industry value, with species-level breakdowns, per a Boston Globe analysis published July 3, 2023; and $81.7 million in 2023 ex-vessel value per a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management press release dated November 25, 2024. That same November 2024 DEM press release is the source for the $15.5 million FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award (a $17.2 million total project with state matching funds) that will elevate structures and replace eight docks across the Port of Galilee, the Division of Marine Fisheries' Jerusalem facility, and the Division of Law Enforcement's Wickford Marine Base. The separate, earlier 2017 federal funding note is per a press release from the office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The March 14, 2017 wind turbine collapse at the port is per Wikipedia's Galilee, Rhode Island entry. George's of Galilee's 1948 founding and family history are per the restaurant's own "About" page; Champlin's Seafood Deck's 1944 founding, ownership, and dockside seafood market are per the business's own "About" page. Fishermen's Memorial State Park's 1953 land acquisition, 1970 dedication, and its tuna-tournament history (begun 1958, continuing today "in a much reduced form") are per Rhode Island State Parks' own history page. This research did not confirm a current campground site count, camping fee, or reservation-availability figure for Fishermen's Memorial State Park; check ReserveAmerica or RI State Parks directly. For anything about current recreational fishing regulations, licenses, seasons, or catch and size limits, consult the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) directly.