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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 2
October 2008
F&W staff cuts could hurt RI’s council, ASMFC representation
NARRAGANSETT, RI – State budget problems have dramatically reduced staffing levels at the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife (F&W) to the point that the agency no longer has personnel available to serve on advisory panels and attend meetings important to the needs of the fishing industry.
According to the minutes of the Aug. 4 meeting of the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council, F&W Chief Michael Lapisky said the marine fisheries section of F&W had been hit the hardest by staff cuts.
He explained that a number of staff members were retiring and others were just leaving. At the time of the meeting, three people had left, and F&W Deputy Chief Mark Gibson and staffer Najih Lazar had been given new responsibilities that took them away from the marine fisheries section.
“It will be increasingly more difficult for the marine fisheries staff to carry out the needs of the industry,” Lapisky said.
In a follow-up interview, Gibson said that, as of Sept. 16, a total of 14 out of 51 F&W personnel had retired, left, or were scheduled to retire at the beginning of October. He said he was not authorized to disclose the names of the people who had left or were leaving.
“Younger staff members are looking for jobs because they don’t see a future here,” he said. “Nobody is being fired per se, but whoever retires or leaves is not being replaced.”
He predicted it wouldn’t be long before the industry would feel the effects of inadequate staffing levels.
“The little management that is left is trying to take up the slack, but it’s an uphill battle,” Gibson said. “There is no way that we can absorb the workload of the people who are leaving.”
Potential impacts
According to the meetings minutes, fisherman Greg Duckworth said that he attended many advisory panel and council meetings and found it took a long time to get proposals vetted. He wanted to know if the shortage in staff would make the process even slower and what the industry could do to improve the situation.
Lapisky said that if the division did not have staff to support the panels and committees, the process could definitely get slower. He suggested that the industry collectively approach those in higher levels of state government and voice their concerns.
Fisherman Chris Brown suggested that a cost-benefit analysis would demonstrate the value of the recreational and commercial fisheries to the state.
Lapisky responded that he already had provided this information in the form of surveys completed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to legislators, the Department of Environmental Management director, and the governor’s office. However, he added that the state was in such a fiscal “crisis situation” that it was not looking at those long-term benefits.
Brown expressed concern that Rhode Island fishermen could lose their rights to fish if the state was not fully represented at Mid-Atlantic or New England Fishery Management Council meetings or any other meetings.
Lapisky indicated that he, Gibson, and Lazar had looked at staffing but they had limited options due to dwindling numbers of staffers remaining.
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