Fishing
laws need to reflect climate change
Climate change continues to warm local
waters with mounting proof that it is changing our fishing environment. Fishing is changing so much that warm water
fish are moving into the northeast and cold water fish are moving to deeper cooler
water.
If the environment is changing then our
fishing laws, which all stem from the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) need to be
updated to reflect these changes too.
Our fishing laws are based on historical fishing and survey data (what
fish were caught where) and what was true in the past may not necessarily be true
today or tomorrow.
Climate
change can have a positive, negative or neutral effect on species with
different tolerances in any given geographic area. Over time we have seen in influx of warm
water fish hear in our region, some of the changes have been good for fishing
and some not so good.
In
Rhode Island, more cobia (an exotic warm water fish) have been caught than ever
before, enhanced summer flounder and black sea bass have moved into southern
New England but yet we have seen a decline in cold water fish like cod.
Dr.
Jonathan Hare, director of the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric
Administration’s (NOAA) Narragansett Laboratory, has long spoke about climate
change and its impact on marine fisheries.
Dr. Hare said that along the northeast continental shelf, “Since 1854
ocean temperatures have risen 1.3 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Dr.
Hare has shared a time lapse illustration that showed how yellow-tail flounder
and summer flounder (fluke) are actually migrating north toward Rhode Island
and other northern coastal states as the water warms. This time lapse illustration uses catch and
effort data supplied to NOAA by commercial fishermen as a condition of their
license. The data and time lapse
illustration showed fish leaving waters to the south and moving northward. Dr. Hare’s work provides proof of warming
water and species movement in and out of our region.
In a recent article written by Ted Morgan of the PEW Charitable
Trust, Morgan said, “Fish managers often develop fishing rules expecting
that the same species will be found in roughly the same place every year.
Setting catch limits for fishing requires some assumptions—and until recently,
one of them has been that the vast ocean, while subject to cycles, is basically
stable over time. But new information challenges that notion, as scientists and
some policymakers have grown increasingly aware of long-term shifts in the
ocean environment.”
Dr. Malin Pinsky of Rutgers University
is a pioneer in using historical fishing trawl survey data collected by NOAA for
years and looking at it differently. The
data includes the fish caught in the trawl as well as latitudes, longitudes and
the depths of each trawl. Once the
historical fishing survey data base was built Dr. Pinsky and his team were able
to pinpoint where fish populations were found—and if those locations changed
over time. His work has been developed into an interactive application; it clearly
shows movement of a variety of species in our region and can be found at http://oceanadapt.rutgers.edu/.
How can
fishing laws change to reflect climate change?
We can do a lot to make sure our
fishing laws and regulations reflect climate change. Our nation through NOAA is
divided into seven regional fishery councils, in our area it is the New England
Fishery Management Council. Ted Morton
of PEW said, “Unfortunately, not all of the nation’s councils are having these
important conversations (about climate change and fish movement) as they make
decisions, because the law does not require them to practice this kind of
modern management.
“When Congress next changes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, lawmakers should call for each council to create fishery ecosystem
plans—road maps that can help managers understand the environmental factors
that influence their fisheries so they can account for them and make more
informed decisions.” said Morton.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act is 40 years
old and has been updated several times. It is now time for another update.
Striped bass
fishing on Block Island
Capt. John Sheriff of Captain Sheriff’s Fishing Charters,
LLC will give a RI Saltwater Anglers Association presentation on tips and
techniques for catching striped bass with a focus on Block Island on Monday,
November 30, 7:00 p.m. at the West Valley Inn, West Warwick. Non-members welcome with a $10 donation to
the RISAA Scholarship Fund, RISAA members attend free. Dinner offered by the
West Valley Inn between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Visit www.risaa.org
for information.
Where’s the bite
Tautog fishing continues to be
strong. Stormy weather and dirty water
did slow the number of angler trips last week but the water settled and anglers
were out the fishing was good. Capt.
Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters said, “Black fish off
Newport has been very good with our largest fish averaging 7 or 8 points and
last week during the big blow we managed to fish off Narragansett with angels
limiting out.” Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait
& Tackle, Warwick said, “Things are slowing down in the Bay with a tautog
bite weakening. Customers that went
south this weekend to Beavertail and the Kettlebottom area off Jamestown as well
as off Newport did pretty good catching tautog and a cod every now and
then. I fished with Roger Tellier,
secretary of the RISAA board of directors this weekend and he caught a 26” cod
while fishing for tautog in the Seal Ledge are off Newport. Angler Chris Jalbert from South County
said “Went Monday morning (last week). Most finicky/delicate
bite of the season so far. I missed a TON of fish. We got our limit in 3-4
hours. Most fish 4-6#. Also got one of the biggest of our season - 10 plus pounds." "The tautog bite seems to be best in 80 feet of wae" “The tautog bite seems to be
best in 70 to 80 feet of water with anglers till catching in lower water too. Fishing the edge of the Pinnacle off Narragansett at 70 feet, off Brenton Reef on the edges and areas at the mouth of the Sakonnet has been good." said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marian, South Kingstown. South Kingstown. Capt. Frank Blount, of the Frances
Fleet, said, “Tautog fishing continued to be good even after a couple days off
due to heavy southerly winds. Pool fish generally in the 8 to 11 pound
range with many limit catches recorded. Tremendous amounts of short tog
provided long lasting action in between the keepers. The sea bass have
definitely become fewer but there has been a slight increase in the number of
keeper cod fish being caught and more of them are gaff-worthy. In fact on a
couple trips cod fish in the low teens took the pool honors of tautog trips.”
Cod fishing remained very strong, even in some areas close to shore this past
week. Capt. Charlie Donilon of Snappa
Charters said, “Last week we did very well with cod and sea bass south of Pt.
Judith and southeast of Block Island. We caught 31 keeper cod, the best in
years. We dropped anchor and it was like
the way it used to be. We limited out on
black sea bass too with 42 fish. It was
definitely like the days of old. In
fact, we had to just stop fishing. The
largest cod were 10 and 11 pounds cod and 6 pound black sea bass.” Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina said, “Cod
fishing has been good with angler’s dong well at the East Fishing Grounds,
Cox’s Ledge and at Shark Ledge.”
Striped bass fishing has taken a back seat to tautog and cod fishing, however,
anglers are catching migrating fish.
“Schools of herring were off the southern coastal shore this week with
garnets diving on them so I’m sure some are picking up bass feeding on the
herring .” sad Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marine.
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