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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 8
April 2007
RI trap transfer plan to be aired at hearing
NARRAGANSETT, RI – The Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council approved various management options to go to public hearing for lobster, weakfish, and striped bass during its March 5 meeting.
All options are meant to bring the state into compliance with both Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and National Marine Fisheries Service rules. The hearing is scheduled for April 9.
The council approved taking to hearing a proposal to establish a lobster trap transferability plan for Lobster Conservation Management Area 2.
The proposal would, among other things:
• Establish a coordinating committee to review appeals of license-permit holders’ state of legal residence;
• Require registration of transfer and/or sale of trap allocations or businesses with the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife (F&W) between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 annually;
• Make effective all trap transfers/sales on May 1 during the year immediately following the year the transfer/sale application was filed, though the sale of an entire lobster trap business can occur at any time and be effective immediately upon registration;
• Set trap allocation transfer units, with those allocated 100 traps or less being required to sell in minimum 10-trap block units and those allocated over 100 traps being required to sell in 50-trap block units; and
• Establish a moratorium on license-permit splitting.
The proposal further includes establishing a 10% conservation tax for each trap sold and setting an 800-trap maximum for Area 2. The majority of the recommendations are in line with those already in place for Massachusetts’ Area 2 lobster fishery.
Stripers, weakfish
The council also adopted advisory panel recommendations for commercial striped bass and weakfish proposals to take to hearing.
For the commercial striped bass fishery, several changes are being proposed from the regulations currently in place, including changing the daily catch limit from a per-person to a vessel limit, starting the season 10 days earlier, and designating days out of the fishery. These measures reflect an effort by the commercial industry to lengthen the season, according to F&W’s Jason McNamee.
More specifically, the proposal is to make 75% of the commercial striped bass quota available June 1-Aug. 31, or until the subquota is harvested, with a 34" minimum size and a five-fish, per-vessel limit. During this time, the fishery would be closed on Friday and Saturday and there would be no commercial possession or sale of striped bass on these days.
From Sept.1-Dec. 31, or until the quota is caught, the remaining 25% of the commercial quota would be available with a five-fish, per-vessel, per-day limit. The fishery is proposed to be closed on Friday and Saturday during this period as well.
Floating fish trap fishing would be limited to 39% of the commercial striped bass quota in a calendar year. That compares to 40% previously and is viewed as a way to offset a decrease in the minimum fish size, which is proposed to be 26" compared to last year’s minimum of 28".
For weakfish, the proposal for commercial fishermen is a 16" minimum size, a 150-pound possession limit June 1-30, and no possession limit Aug. 7-Nov. 8. For recreational fishermen, the proposal is a 16" minimum size and a six-fish limit.
Recreational summer flounder and tautog proposals also will be aired at the April 9 public hearing. The hearing will be held at the Corliss Auditorium, University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, South Ferry Road, Narragansett starting at 6 pm. For more info, call McNamee at (401) 423-1943.
The next full Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council meeting will be held on April 16. However, there will be a brief council meeting on April 9 following the public hearing to discuss the recreational tautog fishery so that the regulations can be promulgated before the start of the recreational fishing season.
Advisers
During its March 5 meeting, the council agreed to name a number of new members to its various advisory panels, including:
• Douglas MacPherson as the recreational primary on the summer flounder panel;
• Robert Redinger as the recreational alternate on the winter flounder panel;
• Brian Loftes as the commercial trawl alternate on the bluefish/weakfish summer flounder, scup/black sea bass, and lobster panels and the commercial trawl primary on the enforcement and winter flounder panels;
• David Taylor as the scientific adviser on the bluefish/weakfish, summer flounder, tautog, and striped bass panels;
• Ed Baker as the hook and line primary on the winter flounder panel and the hook and line alternate on the striped bass panel;
• Jim Low as the hook and line alternate on the winter flounder panel;
• Ian Parente as the commercial gillnet primary on the winter flounder panel and the commercial gillnet alternate on the summer flounder and tautog panels;
• Ted Platz as the commercial gillnet alternate on the scup/black sea bass panel;
• Bill McElroy as the commercial trap alternate on the lobster panel;
• Peter Brodeur as the commercial trap primary on the lobster panel;
• John Gates as the scientific adviser primary on the lobster panel;
• Richard Fuka as the East Bay shellfish fisherman alternate on the shellfish panel and the commercial lobster alternate on the menhaden and enforcement panels; and
• Dale Leavitt as the scientific adviser on the shellfish panel. n
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