No oxygen, no fish

Buoys like this one in front of the Mt. View section of North Kingstown, RI measure temperature, oxygen and salinity in Narragansett Bay.

Pat Crabtree and Chris Catucci of Bishop Hendricken High School, Warwick are getting ready for the fresh water fishing High School Eastern Conference Championship in Virginia on September 15.  Pat and Chris shown here as they finished first in the State of Rhode Island representing Bishop Hendricken with a largemouth bass five fish limit weight of 14.5 pounds.

Brett Santo caught a 14 lb. 10 oz. fluke (summer flounder) off Block Island last week while fishing aboard the charter boat Maridee II captained by Andy Dangelo.  The fluke was caught on a rig made by Mary Dangelo of Maridee Bait, Tackle and Canvass shop in Narragansett, RI.

No oxygen, no fish

Narragansett Bay anglers say there are no fish in the Bay.  Many believe it is warm water.  They say “We don’t like the heat so why would the fish.” The water has been warm, in the mid-seventy degree range off ocean coastal shores and as high as the mid-eighties in Bay coves and harbors.

So this week I thought it appropriate to check in with Chris Deacutis, PhD and chief scientist for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (NBEP) at the URI Bay Campus.  Dr. Deacutis has been working on the issue of excess nutrients (nitrogen) and the low oxygen issue in the upper half of Narragansett Bay for over ten years.  Chris said, “It’s no wonder fishermen are complaining about no fish in the upper
Bay.  The upper Bay in the Bullocks Reach/Gaspee Point area, Greenwich Bay and surrounding coves are experiencing low oxygen levels in the water.”

High water temperatures are a contributing factor to low oxygen in the water (and few fish). The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Bay Assessment and Response Team’s (BART) website says, “Warmer waters are more vulnerable to water quality problems because they hold less dissolved oxygen, stratify more readily, and encourage phytoplankton (microscopic algae) growth. Hence, as the summer progresses and the Bay becomes warmer, it is more vulnerable to water quality problems.” 

Anglers are correct, warm water contributes to algae blooms, low water oxygen and fewer fish

The NBEP blog states “Marine animals breathe oxygen too and when oxygen levels drop below 3 mg/L there is not enough oxygen to go around. Creatures that live on the bottom of the bay such as oysters, littlenecks, and marine worms are at a greater risk during hypoxic events because they cannot move to a different area. Schooling fish such as menhaden are also affected by hypoxia because they are often chased into coves by predators such as striped bass and the school will use up the oxygen faster than it can be produced by photosynthesis…”

If fish need 3 mg/L of oxygen, what levels are we experiencing ?

The Bullock Point Reach/Gaspee Point area last week had an oxygen level of 2 mg/L.  So when anglers fishing in this area say there are few fish, it is because there is little oxygen in the water to support them.  In the upper reaches of Warwick Cove the oxygen was a low .5 mg/L.  (Incidentally, Dr. Deacutis said the red algae bloom in Warwick Cove this summer was tested and it was determined to be non-toxic.)

The oxygen level in Western Greenwich Bay (Chepiwanoxet Point) was 1.6 mg/L and Greenwich Cove was at 1.3 mg/L.  With a prevailing southwest summer wind in Narragansett Bay, Greenwich Bay (particularly Greenwich Cove), does not get flushed and low oxygen levels are more prominent there.

We often see bait fish in these areas on the surface where oxygen levels are higher as oxygen in the air mixes with the water, and often predators such as blue fish ae chasing them, however, fish (particularly bottom fish) cannot live where oxygen levels are this low.

Where are the fish in the upper Bay when oxygen levels are low

As long as I can remember, fishing in the upper Bay has been good around Warwick Light and in areas around the East Passage.  There is good reason.  Water at Warwick Neck moves fast, tossing around bait and mixes oxygen well throughout the water column.  The oxygen level in front of Warwick Light last week was close to 5 mg/l.

Fishing in the East passage is often good too … at Ohio Ledge, Providence Point, Prudence Island and areas around Conimicut Point… bait fish and menhaden running up the East Passage shipping channel helps, but one has to wonder if the shipping channel that provides a path for bait also provides flushing, mixing and a better oxygen supply contributing to better fishing in these areas.

For more information visit the NBEP website at www.nbep.org  and an associated blog at http://nbep.wordpress.com/  or http://www.geo.brown.edu/georesearch/insomniacs/index.html  for  the dissolved oxygen (DO) website (called Insomniacs) which has oxygen level maps of various Bay areas.  For weekly assessments and reports on water temperature and conditions visit www.dem.ri.gov/bart . 

Thank you and congratulations to DEM, URI, Brown University and the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program for doing such a good job monitoring water quality in Rhode Island.

Learn how to fish NY salmon and striped bass at night in the Bay Monday, August 27

The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) will hold a seminar Monday, August 27, 7:00 p.m. at the West Valley Inn, 4 Blossom Street, West Warwick, RI. Learn about salmon fishing in upstate New York with Don Smith.  Don is a famous local striper angler who also has been fishing the Salmon River for 25 years.  Another topic will be fishing for striped bass in Narragansett Bay with Greg Vespe.  Greg has logged 350 night trips on Narragansett Bay.  He finished 16^th out of 1,500 anglers in the 2009 Striper Cup Angler of Year. $10 donation for non-members, RISAA members free.

Where’s the bite

Fluke (summer flounder).  The fluke fishing has been fair offshore.  Some days are good, other days are not good depending on alignment of tide and wind and the appetite of the fish. Angler Mike Swain of North Kingstown said, “We fished under the Newport Bridge Monday and caught three nice keepers to seven pounds and one nice black sea bass.”  Kevin Brothers said he fished, “Friday from Elbow Reef, mouth of Sakonnet, to various spots outside Brenton reef at 60-70 foot depths with a slow bite of mostly short sea bass & fluke (only a couple keepers of each).”  I fished the same area Monday and had a similar experience.

Striped bass fishing at Block Island has been mixed.  I fished Tuesday with Eric Appolonia and his son Alex of North Kingstown on the southwest side and had mixed results.  The bluefish were thick, catching them every time we put out a tube and worm in the water.  We caught a nice black sea bass working an eel off the bottom and one nice striped bass on amber colored tube and worm (300 feet of wire line out in 35 to 45 feet of water).  Eels still seem to be the bait of choice at night or early morning with tube and worm working in the day.

Scup fishing is still good too. With large and small fish being caught throughout the Bay.

Black sea bass bite is very good off Block Island on and around the southwest ledge.  Ken Robinson fished with two friends on the southwest side of BI last week and reports “… we stopped keeping them (black sea bass) when we hit about 30 fish.  As expected the black sea bass were near the top of rock piles in 32 to 45 feet of water and they liked fluke rigs with some green in them tipped with squid.”