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Tautog fishing still very good: Gil Barao (in photo) and his son Travis
fished near the #2 red can off Newport in 58’ of water Saturday and landed
eight tautog. Fishing weather has been
cold and breezy but those braving the weather are catching some nice tautog.
Thankful for the fish, especially Atlantic Menhaden
It is Thanksgiving already. We have a lot to be thankful for in Rhode Island,
we were clobbered by hurricane Sandy but did not experience the loss of life
and property that New York and New Jersey experienced. By no means am I belittling our losses in
Westerly, Misquamicut and along our southern coastal shores. Our residences suffered major losses and we
need to continue to help them.
Overall it was a good year for recreational
fishing in our bays and ocean. Fishing
this year was better than it has been in a number of years. The striped bass run in the Bay was moderate,
however, the bass fishing continued to be great offshore around Block Island,
the fluke season was good and we had an outstanding scup and black sea bass fishery
this year. All this was capped with a surprisingly
good fall tautog season that we are still experiencing. This is a lot to be thankful for.
One species I am forever grateful for is Atlantic Menhaden as it serves
as a food source for so many other fish including striped bass. If you fish RI coastal waters, offshore or in Narragansett Bay,
now is the time to voice your concerns about this important fish species as the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlanta Menhaden Management
Board meets December 14, 2012 to consider regulations for this important species.
In addition to being a primary food source for many other species
of fish, menhaden serve as roving filters, converting algae into energy and
thus reducing nutrient loads in bays and covers. An adult menhaden, through its
unique filtering gills, is able to process up to 4 gallons of water per minute
or a million gallons of water every 180 days. Multiply this by the number of
menhaden in any given area and this is an amazing amount of water being
filtered, a reduction of nutrients means fewer algae blooms and ultimately more
oxygen for all fish.
The ASMFC’s Atlantic
Menhaden Management Board will meet on December 14, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland
to consider approval of Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan
for Atlantic Menhaden. The meeting will take place at the Best Western Plus
Hotel and Conference Center, Chesapeake Room, 5625 O’Donnell Street, Baltimore,
Maryland.
At the meeting, the Board
will select the final measures to be included in the Amendment as well as an
implementation timeline. Draft Amendment 2 was out for public comment until
November 16, 2012. The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) and
other fishing groups in Rhode Island and Massachusetts expressed their thoughts
on these important Atlantic Menhaden regulations at public hearings. However, even though the public comment period
is officially closed it is important to continue to put pressure on the ASMFC
committee to regulate on the side of the fish. To make sure this species is
here to stay and will not continue to be overfished. Advocating for this
species should continue through December as regulations are finalized and implemented. Watch this column for ways to advocate for
this species as we get closer to the December meeting and beyond this meeting
date.
Amendment 2 presents a
suite of options to manage and monitor the stock in both the short and
long-term. These include options to end overfishing; change the biomass
reference points to match the fishing mortality reference points; and establish a specification process
to set and allocate total allowable catch (TAC), including procedures to close the fishery when a certain
percentage of the TAC has been projected to be landed. It presents
accountability measures to address quota transfers, rollovers, and overage
payback, as well as options to allow for a specified amount of the TAC to be
set aside for small scale fisheries and episodic events. To address monitoring
and data collection needs, the Draft Amendment also presents options for timely
quota monitoring and the collection of biological data through catch sampling. Overall it is a very comprehensive amendment.
BOEM holds stakeholder workshop
on windmills
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held a workshop at the
URI Bay campus Friday to discuss ocean windmills and their impact on fishing. This was the second of a series of eight
workshops taking place on the east coasts to obtain input from commercial and
recreational fishers.
This input meeting addressed future potential conflicts
between fishing and wind projects within the Ocean Continental Shelf (OCS).
BOEM is seeking input from commercial and recreational fishing industries, as
well as fisheries management agencies and scientists, relative to proposed
offshore wind energy development.
Some of the wind energy/fishing issues discussed
included radar performance around wind farms (wind farms can a negative impact
on radar), obstruction markings, the ability to shut down the wind farm for
emergencies/rescues, exclusion zones, safety zones, electromagnetic fields
(EMF) generated by turbines and their impact on fish, and financial
compensation for equipment loss, liability damage, cable damage, etc.
BOEM intends to process and summarize meeting input for
consideration when formulating lease requirements for wind farms. Recreational anglers recommended such things
as added underwater structure around turbine foundations to attract fish, a
mooring ball system over the structure so anglers can tie up and fish,
reflective markings on structures in addition to lights, radar reflectors,
chart markings, mariner notifications during wind farm construction and some type
of alert or warning system. For more information
visit BOEM’s website at www.boem.gov.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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