Proposed panel format designed to enhance fishermen input

Captain John Sheriff with the 43 pound bass he caught on the Southwest Ledge of Block Island fishing at night with eels.

Suzanne Sustello with a nice black sea bass she caught off the center wall at the Harbor of Refuge when fishing with her husband Rick last week.

Bob Brodeur with the 24” fluke that Larry Ruddy caught on his boat Popcorn2 when fishing under the Newport Bridge last Thursday.

Angler Ed Mardo with two of the doormat fluke he caught this weekend when fishing the south side of Block Island.

Proposed panel format designed to enhance input

In a move to enhance fishermen participation the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council (RIMFC) is exploring full-day meetings to consider annual amendments to species-specific management plans. These annual amendments traditionally address such things as catch limits, season length, size limits, etc. for both commercial and recreational fishing. Historically, Advisory Panel meetings have been held on separate nights i.e. striped bass, fluke (summer flounder), tautog.  With the single night approach fishermen have to attend several evening or afternoon meetings to provide regulation input on the variety of species they fish.

Robert Ballou, acting chief of the Division of Fish & Wildlife of the Department of Environment Management (DEM) and chairman of the RIMFC, introduced the proposal at July’s RIMFC meeting. “Now I would like to continue the discussion regarding streamlining the Advisory Panel process.”  Consolidating the meetings was recommended by Councilman Rick Bellavance of North Kingstown (a charter boat operator and captain).  Captain Bellavance said, “Holding meetings together on one or two days or evenings will enhance participation from fishermen who cannot make multiple meetings and allow greater council participant at a variety of species meetings.” Bellavance continued to say that fishermen have too many meetings to go to.  Consequently they often have to miss meetings to fish or prepare their vessels for fishing

The draft proposal calls for a full-day (and/or night) meeting in September and a meeting in February that will likely be one and a half or two days.  The fall meeting would address commercial summer flounder, scup, black sea bass as well as herring.  The winter meeting could address commercial tautog, striped bass, menhaden, bluefish and weakfish; federally managed species such as monkfish, dogfish, skates, cod, winter flounder; lobster;  and recreational summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, tautog, striped bass and winter flounder.

Advisory panels and committees that would remain in effect, meeting throughout the year as needed, would include the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC), enforcement, floating fish trap and shellfish possibly both wild harvest regulations as well as aquaculture lease proposals.

The proposal received wide support at the meeting.  DEM and the RIMFC hope to enact the new meeting structure this year keeping advisory panel and committee membership as it presently exists.

Fluke exemption certificate

The summer flounder (fluke) exemption certificate program was also discussed at the RIMFC meetng.  The Council voted to not eliminate the certificate and then asked DEM to develop an alternative proposal that addressed key fishermen concerns if the certificate was eliminated  i.e. too much pressure on inshore fish in the summer, possible early season closures due to overfishing but yet address the inequality of the present certificate program.

 The fluke advisory panel had voted unanimously (8 to 0) to “recommend not eliminating or modifying the summer flounder exemption certificate program.”  The program allowed vessels to apply for a “RI Summer Flounder Exemption Certificate” prior to 1/1/97.  173 permits were issued with approximately 148 (56 are non-resident permits) active today.  The permits allow fishermen “to possess, land, sell” more than two hundred (200) pounds of summer flounder in any calendar day in Rhode Island as catch limits permit. 

The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance sponsored a proposal to eliminate the permit relating that the proposal was about creating equity amongst Rhode Island fishermen. However, some at the summer flounder advisory panel meeting and the following RIMFC meeting voiced opposition to eliminating the certificate program relating the “too much inshore pressure” and “overfishing” arguments.  Those voicing opposition to eliminating the certificate included the Rhode Island Commercial Rod and Reel Association as well and the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA).

Where’s the bite

Striped bass fishing has been good at Block Island at night.  Captain John Sheriff reports landing bass to 43 pounds on the Southwest Ledge Friday night.  Captain Sheriff said, “We caught a 34, 25 and a few 20 pound class fish as well…Bass caught with live eels with no weight in 45 feet of water.” Steve McKenna, a noted local shore angler and fishing author said the shore bass bite has slowed a great deal off Narragansett and other areas he fishes.  Steve said, “I caught over one hundred fish in April but since May I have caught about seventy fish… I have been shore bass fishing for 39 years and places where I would catch five and seven fish a night are now yielding two to no fish.” Angler Dave Morton reports that Saturday night, “…we decided to hit the car docks at Quonset where we came across schools of stripers chasing squid and small bunker type bait, by the end of the night my friend’s brother landed his first Rhode Island striper at 25 inches! In total the three of us landed 30 stripers from 12 to 28 inches all stuffed with squid.” John Littlefield from Archie’s Bait & Tackle, East Providence said, “The striped bass bite has slowed a great deal in the upper Bay and River.”

Squeteague (weakfish or saltwater trout as they are often referred to) are being caught in Narragansett Bay in larger numbers.  John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, East Providence, said, “Two days in a row customers have reported catching squeteague.  One caught four off Warwick Light when fluke fishing and a second caught two off Barrington Beach.”  Ed Bison caught a 25” weakfish in 60’ of water when fluke fishing Saturday. The legal size for squeteague is 16” with a possession limit of one fish per angler per day with no closed season.

Fluke (or summer flounder) fishing slowed a bit this week with anglers working harder for the keeper fish. Craig Castro of Erickson Brothers Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, “Customers fishing in the RISAA fluke tournament experienced a very slow bite catching one and two fish this weekend.”  I fished this week off Newport and caught three fluke in the 21” range in a two hour period.  Thursday, Larry Ruddy caught a nice 24” fluke under the Newport Bridge when fishing on Bob Brodeau’s boat Popcorn2.  Angler Dave Sweet fished at Austin Hollow Saturday and caught three keepers in the afternoon with a slow bite most of the day. Anglers fishing the mouth of the Sakonnet River also experience a slower fluke bite this week.  Angler Steve McGonagle said there was a “Slow pick of nice sized fluke along with big BSB and even a couple of fat tautog on the outgoing, at the mouth of the Sakonnet River in 70-75 feet of water. Point Judith head boats were there along with 30 or so other boats. Not nonstop action but you could work for a nice pick of fish.”  Angler Rick Sustello who fished at the three mile limit off Point Judith Saturday said, “We had non-stop action with fluke and BSB for over two hours before it slowed down. We had over a dozen keeper size fluke, but kept only 6 fluke… we also caught about the same number of BSB with the largest at 4...”

Scup fishing remains good all over Narragansett Bay with fish as large 18” being caught.  Hot spots include Colt State Park, Ohio Ledge, the Rocky Point area and wharfs in Warren and Barrington.  

Fisheries Council recommends cod filet law

Michael Casey, a member of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, poses with an eight and a ten pound tautog he caught last week in the Brenton Tower area.

Fisheries Council recommends cod filet law
Yes…. we could have a cod filet law in Rhode Island in 2012 as the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council (RIMFC) voted to recommend one to the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) commissioner Janet Coit last week. Captain Frank Blount, owner of the Francis Fleet party boats, said, “I was the one who recommended this filet law and would support an option that would allow filleting of cod at sea but with fillets equal to the a specified size. Fourteen inches, if that translates to the minimum size fish (of 22 inches)”. Blount advocated for the law to prevent private anglers, party and charter boats from taking undersized cod and then filleting them at sea with no minimum size. If DEM Law Enforcement should check their catch nothing could be done if the fish were filled because there is no minimum filet size… we just have a 22” full fish minimum size in Rhode Island.
Captain Rick Bellavance, president of the Rhode Island Party and Charter Boat Association, advocated for status quo…a 22” size with no filet law. Bellavance said, “Filet laws are not the solution. They are not going to stop people from taking undersized fish, what is needed is enhanced enforcement.” Many anglers and charter captains feel that filet laws are restrictive and burdensome, particularly those that require no filleting at sea or the preservation of racks. Charter boats and most anglers filet their catch at sea on the way back to port and saving racks (of fish skeletons) often creates a burden too. Some of those at the meeting felt that the “saving the racks” option would place a burden on captains and private anglers who have no readily available place to discard racks once at the dock as most marinas do not allow fish racks to be discarded at the dock. Party boat captains related that the number of racks, particularly on long trips, would be impractical to keep due to the mere volume of them and amount of space they would take up.
The final recommendation approved by the council will be sent to Janet Coit, DEM director, for consideration. The recommendation approved was a combination of two options … that is… the vessel would either have to have all 14” and above fillets (possibly with a 1” skin patch left on them to make it identifiable as a cod fish) or the racks of all fish taken. If undersized fillets were on board due to a poor fillet job then both all filets and all racks must be kept.
The new law could get complex. DEM staffers are expected to take RIMFC input and their departmental recommendations to the director for her decision. What seems clear is that some type of cod fillet law may be in place for 2012.

Other RIMFC news
The RIMFC voted to discontinue the fluke sector pilot program, however, this leaves the door open for some other type of program, perhaps a permanent one which is expected to be proposed.
The Council voted to recommend the elimination of the Friday and Saturday commercial fluke fishing restriction. Commercial rod and reel fishermen in particular felt that this regulation was unfair to commercial fisherman. Recreational anglers advocated keeping one restricted day, Saturday, which would allow recreational anglers to fish Saturdays without the impact of commercial fluke fishermen. However, in the end with a split vote, the Council voted to recommend the elimination of both restricted days.
A Whelk Ad Hoc Committee had convened and reported on draft regulations for the industry. A major topic advocated for by many industry participants is that all Whelk meat be keep in shells so law enforcement officials can check minimum sizes if they should check a fisherman’s catch.
Agendas for a variety of Advisory Panels (AP) were approved by the council including two summer flounder AP agendas, a scup/black sea bass agenda, tautog, striped bass, menhaden, an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) and a Winter flounder advisory panel agenda. Visit DEM’s web site at www.dem.ri.gov for dates and times that these meetings will be held. Fishermen are urged to attend as this is an opportunity to impact fishing policy. Most of the meetings will be scheduled in January, they will set the tables for recreational (and commercial) regulation recommendations that the RIMFC will consider and eventually be sent to the DEM Director in late winter and early spring 2012 for consideration.
Solar panels to be installed at State facilities
DEM has been awarded $1.5 million in federal funds from the RI Office of Energy Resources to install solar panels at nine DEM facilities throughout the state. The solar panels are designed to turn the energy from the sun into electricity that will be used to offset the energy needs at the state facilities. The funding was awarded as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009. Solar panels will be installed at the following facilities starting this week: Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett; Fisherman’s Memorial State Park and Campground in Narragansett; Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly; Burlingame State Park in Charlestown; Lafayette Fish Hatchery in North Kingstown; Dawley State Park in Exeter; Prudence Island Research Reserve; Urban Edge Farm in Providence; and East Matunuck State Beach in South Kingstown. It is estimated that all work will be completed by the end of February of 2012.
Where’s the bite
Black sea bass and cod. Cod fishing was fair this week. Private anglers seem to be doing better than the party fishing boats. Cod anglers are catching some great black sea bass. Francis feel vessels reported keeper sea bass in the two and three pound ranges were easily caught with just about all anglers limiting out this weekend on the sea bass. Angler Eric Duda reports on his Francis Fleet trip, “Went out on the Frances Fleet on Friday (7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) for Cod fishing. Well, don’t expect to get many cod yet, but the sea bass fishing was great!!! Within seconds, you would get a hit.” Private angles seem to be doing a little better. Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, “Customers are catching some nice 30” fish in the Brenton Tower area.” Earlier in the week several RISAA members reported a good black sea bass and cod bite at the East Fishing grounds off Block Island.
Tautog bite continues to be good too. Dave Fewster reports catching fish to just under ten pounds off Newport and limiting out in a short amount of time this weekend. Angler Michael Casey said, “Black fishing is still going off of the Brenton Tower and Fountains area off Newport. Bite good off Washington Ledge… in 55 feet (of water) we caught 30 tautog (10 keepers) before limiting out and going home in about 3 hours.” Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, “I have been selling a ton of green crabs, tautog fishing is good, it is a shame the season will end next week (December 15). Fishing from Coddington Cove and Plum Point Lighthouse throughout the lower Bay and out off near coastal shores has been very good.”