Mike Raganzo of
Providence, RI with the pool winning cod he caught last week aboard the Gail
Frances party boat out of Pt. Judith, RI.
Troy Bique of
Ashaway, RI jigged up this cod Saturday when fishing a Frances Fleet party boat
out of Pt. Judith, RI .
Anderson knows how to play tag
Sixty thousand of anything is a
lot. Particularly game fish, all caught
on a hook and line, tagged and then released.
That is the milestone Capt. Al
Anderson hit this summer. The striped
bass was 25 inches and weighed about six pounds. Capt. Anderson said, “This fish marked fifty years
of tagging game fish for science.” Over
the years I’ve tagged school and giant bluefin tuna, a variety of sharks, white
and blue marlin, bluefish and striped bass.”
Capt. Anderson, who recently retired
from charter fishing, credits his long-term clients with offering some of their
catch up for tagging. Now he’s tagging fish from his seventeen foot
Boston Whaler.
In 2012 he was inducted into the
International Game Fish Association’s (IGFA) Hall of Fame for his ethic of
fisheries conservation through tagging.
Nice job Capt. Anderson, we are
proud to have such an acclaimed conservationist here in Rhode Island.
Marine mammal safety guidelines
NOAA Fisheries is developing guidelines for safely deterring
marine mammals and is
asking for angler input.
The
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) section 101(a)(4)(A) allows for
private citizens to employ measures to deter marine mammals from
damaging fishing gear and catch, damaging personal or public property, or
endangering personal safety, as long as these measures do not result in death
or serious injury of marine mammals.
The
MMPA also directs the Secretary of Commerce, through NOAA Fisheries, to develop
national guidelines on safely deterring marine mammals under NOAA's
jurisdiction including whales, dolphins, seals, and sea lions. The comment period is open until January 15,
2015. Review guidelines and comment at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0146.
President Obama signs discharge permit exemption
Good news for commercial fishing vessels and charter boats.
Last week President Obama signed into law the "Howard Coble Coast Guard
and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014," exempting small fishing vessels
from the EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
discharge permit requirements. The law extended the exemption provision for
three years.
Rick Bellavance, president of the Rhode
Island Party & Charter Boat Association, said, “We lobbied congress for permanent exemptions because the permits
would be required in order to legally
discharge effluent, such as deck wash and fish hold water, generated during
normal charter fishing operations. Vessel owners who don’t obtain permits
(would have been) subjected to daily noncompliance fines of up to $20,000 per
day.”
The regulation was intended to prevent fuels, toxic chemicals, or hazardous waste from entering the water. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told the Alaska Journal of Commerce that requiring a permit for fishermen to hose down a boat is overkill - especially when recreational boats, including mega-yachts - are exempt from the rule.
"We want to abide by environmental regulations that
make sense," Senator Murkowski told the Journal, "But I don't think
any of us believe it should be a requirement for a fishermen who has had a good
day out on the water, and they are cleaning up the boat, and hosing slime and
maybe some fish guts off the deck and that then becomes a reportable discharge
to the EPA.... Let's use some common sense here."
Catch your own
bait
This Monday, December 29th,
7:00 p.m. at the West Valley Inn, West Warwick, RI the Rhode Island Saltwater
Angers Association (RISAA) will present a seminar on catching your own
bait. In this seminar Michael and George
Fotiades will cover the types of bait that can be found in Rhode Island, how to
catch them, how to keep them alive, and tips for fishing with them. Cast nets will also be covered in depth - how
they work, how to choose one, where to use them, and how to throw one. The seminar will be followed RISAA’s 17th annual meeting.
Non-members are requested to make a $10 donation to the RISAA Scholarship Fund. Optional dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. served
by the West Valley Inn.
Coastal
Resources Center seeks focus group participants
The Coastal Resources Center is looking for focus group
participants to help them improve the quality and content of their
website. They are looking for people who
both have and have not previously accessed our website. People chosen to
participate in the group will receive a light breakfast, a CVS gift card and
some Coastal Resources Center prizes.
For a chance to be chosen to participate in one of their focus groups
visit http://tinyurl.com/CRCFocusGroupSignUp2015
. If you have questions contact Jim Blair at 724.877.0517 (or blairj4@my.uri.edu).
Where’s the bite
Cod. This weekend angler Brian Beltrami fished the
party boat the Island Current out of Snug Harbor, RI. Brian said, “After about a 2 1/2 hour ride
we arrived at a wreck South of Block Island, the island was not in sight. It
was constant action on very large BSB, a few cod, and other species. When
everyone had their limit of BSB we headed to the cod grounds near Coxes Ledge.
Many keeper cod came over the rails. Besides the BSB and cod, pollock, silver
hake, ocean Pout, cunner and ling were caught.”
Cod
fishing was excellent aboard the Frances Fleet last week. Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said,
“Every angler left with cod fish all three fishing days. A solid
"average" so to speak was five to seven nice fat green market cod per
angler with some anglers doing considerably better all three trips. Hi hooks
were in the 10 to 12 keeper category…on Saturday there were quite a few that
had their limit… We are also seeing a tremendous amount of short cod from trout
size to fish that are just under legal limit which is perhaps one of the best
signs seen in a very long time indicating a strong possibility of at least two
or three year classes. We are also making a paramount effort to ensure each and
every throwback is returned unharmed and quickly to the sea.”
Party boats
sailing for cod fish at this time include the Frances Fleet at www.francesfleet.com , the Seven B’s
(with Capt. Andy Dangelo at the helm this week) at www.sevenbs.com, and the Island Current at www.islandcurrent.com .
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