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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 10
June 2007
RI signs off on striped bass, tautog changes
NARRAGANSETT RI – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has approved a number of commercial fisheries regulations for the upcoming striped bass, tautog, and weakfish seasons.
In the general category fishery for striped bass, DEM Director Michael Sullivan came out in support of the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council’s recommended regulatory changes, including: a June 1 start date; a Friday and Saturday closure of the fishery; and a bag limit of five fish per vessel per day.
In a May 9 letter sent to Mark Gibson, chairman of the council, Sullivan said, “While we are under no requirement to modify the regulatory program for the commercial striped bass fishery, I am open to industry-led initiatives aimed at improving the quota management program.”
Seventy-five percent of the commercial striped bass quota will now be available June 1-Aug. 31. This is a change from last year’s June 10 start date. As well, a change has been made to the per-day possession limit. The clause limiting license holders to four fish per day has been modified to five fish per vessel per day. The possession limit was a dicey issue for the public, but Sullivan ultimately supported the council’s recommendation for the change.
The last change to the striped bass management plan was a Friday and Saturday closure of the fishery. This change bans the commercial sale of all striped bass on these days and will be in effect June 1-Dec. 3.
Tautog, weakfish
The regulations governing the commercial tautog fishery season also have been slightly modified. Now, instead of ending on Dec. 15, the season will last until either the end of the year or until the quota has been caught.
The off-season weakfish quota has been modified from a 300-pound daily limit to a 150-pound daily limit when the fish are not in season.
Summer flounder
Sullivan also approved a summer aggregate fluke plan. Vessels that sign up for the plan can land up to 350 pounds on any single day, once a week. After the 350-pound threshold is met, the vessel will not be able to land any fluke until the week is over. This plan is meant to reduce fluke bycatch due to the current 100-pound daily commercial possession limit.
The other major change to the commercial fluke regulations is the combining of the pre-existing two summer subperiods. The new subperiod runs May 1-Oct. 31. A Friday and Saturday closure also exists for summer flounder beginning on June 1 and extending through Oct. 31.
Aquaculture growth
Most of the council’s May 14 meeting in Narragansett was spent discussing how to deal with growth in the aquaculture industry.
Aquaculture expansion, for both those seeking a first-time lease and those seeking a lease area increase, has until now been taken on by the council on an ad hoc basis. However, the council is now urging the Coastal Resource Management Council (CRMC) to draw up a comprehensive aquaculture plan. The CRMC has the final say in permitting aquaculture leases.
The aquaculture plan would address what areas are suitable for development and to what extent. The plan would help the council in making recommendations on whether a site is appropriate for aquaculture development.
Impatient with what appears to be the CRMC’s slow progress, council member David Preble said, “We have to develop a plan as soon as possible, and I don’t see it happening.”
David Alves, CRMC aquaculture staffer, said his group has been compiling a list of stakeholders who would be affected by aquaculture development.
Among the main issues CRMC has identified as needing to be addressed in the plan are public trust, along with environmental impact, user conflicts, historical uses, and economics. And among the three separate coastal habitats in Rhode Island suitable for aquaculture development – ponds, Narragansett Bay, and Rhode Island Sound – aquaculture management in Rhode Island’s ponds is likely to be the most problematic.
Alves said that the CRMC has identified Winnapaug Pond as a guinea pig for pond aquaculture plan development where his group will look into the various impacts aquaculture expansion will have on the local ecosystem.
The next CRMC meeting on aquaculture development will be June 21 at the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Institute Building at 4 pm. The meeting is open to the public.
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