Warm water moving fish in and out of region

 Kevin Fetzer with a black sea bass caught last year.  The season opened Thursday, May 25^th with a three fish/person/day limit, however, regulations are expected to change.

Bonnie Audino’s 31.5 pound Taunton River striped bass caught when trolling a T-man tube & worm with her husband Larry. As required on 34” or larger recreational fish the right pectoral fin has been cut.

Warm water moving fish in and out of region

Climate change and warming water is impacting the location and numbers of important fish species on the east coast.

A study published in Progress in Oceanography titled “Marine species distribution shifts on the U.S. Northeast Continental Shelf under continued ocean warming”, shows that some fish species are gaining more natural habitat in northern regions and others are losing suitable habitat. 

Those gaining habitat include spiny dogfish, summer flounder, black sea bass, and lobsters.  Yet we are losing suitable habitat for such species as American cod, haddock, thorny skate and Acadian redfish because the water is too warm and the fish are moving to deeper water. 

The projections indicate that as species shift from one management jurisdiction to another, or span state and federal jurisdictions, there will be an increased need for collaboration among management groups to set quotas and establish allocations.

“Species that are currently found in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and on Georges Bank may have enough suitable habitat in the future because they can shift northward as temperatures  increase,”  said lead author Kristin Kleisner, formerly of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)‘s Ecosystems Dynamics and Assessment Branch and now a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund.

“Species concentrated in the Gulf of Maine, where species have shifted to deeper water rather than northward, may be more likely to experience a significant decline in suitable habitat and move out of the region altogether.  Given the historical changes observed on the Northeast Shelf over the past five decades and confidence in the projection of continued ocean warming in the region, it is likely there will be major changes within this ecosystem.” said Kleisner.

In a press release this week, the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, “Scientists used a high-resolution global climate model and historical observations of species distributions on the Northeast U.S. Shelf and found commercially important species will continue to shift their distribution as ocean waters warm two to three times faster than the global average through the end of this century. Projected increases in surface to bottom waters of 6.6 to 9 degrees F from current conditions are expected.” 

It is important to note that sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine have warmed faster than 99 percent of the global ocean over the past decade.  Northward shifts of many species has already occurred from one management jurisdiction to another. These changes will directly affect fishing communities, as species now landed at those ports move out of range, and new species move in.

A copy of the article can be found at www.sciencedirect.com .

Black sea bass regulations changing

NOAA Fisheries announced revised 2017 and projected 2018 catch limits for black sea bass taking effect May 25, 2017 for both recreational and commercial fisheries.  The revisions were instituted because of the recent benchmark stock assessment completed in December, 2016.

Based on the new stock assessment information, NOAA is implementing revisions to the 2017 black sea bass specifications that represent a 53-percent increase in the 2017 commercial quota, and a 52-percent increase in the 2017 recreational harvest limit. 

Additionally, NOAA is removing an accountability measure that was applied to the 2017 commercial fishery at the beginning of the fishing year to account for a previous overage in 2015.  At press time Rhode Island commercial quotas and recreation fishing harvest limits had not been revised.

Trout Unlimited meeting May 31

The Narragansett Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU225) will hold its monthly meeting and seminar on Wednesday, May 31, 6:00 p.m. at the Arcadia Management Area Check Station, Rt. 165, (Ten Rod Road),  Wood River, Exeter, RI.

Members and guests are invited to come at 5:00 p.m. for hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, chips, and soda/water.  Park Regulations for the Arcadia Management Area do NOT permit consumption of alcohol. 

At 6:00 p.m. a short meeting will be followed by a spey casting demonstration by Vinny Diodato. Those wishing to participate are invited to bring their own equipment.  A limited supply of loaner gear will be available.

Contact Glenn Place at 1-401-225-7712 or TU225President@gmail.com for information.

Where’s the bite

Freshwater fishing held up well last week with a variety of species being caught.  Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren said, “Anglers are catching smallmouth and largemouth bass, trout and everything in-between at Stafford Pond and other ponds in the area.”  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters, Westerly said, “With the cooler weather the fresh water fishing has held up pretty good.  We have actually extending the trout season with good numbers of fish being caught in waterways stocked by DEM.”  Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence said, “Carp fishing remains very strong as well as the large and smallmouth bass bite.  Customers are buying shiners to fish for bass and then coming back for more.”

Squid fishing.  Capt. Frank Blount, owner of the Frances Fleet, reported some improved squid fishing this past Friday Night with a really nice shot of good size tubes later in the evening and a few anglers filling upwards to a half of a four or five gallon pail apiece.

“Striped bass fishing for school bass in the ponds has been very good and anglers are catching 28” to 32” bass at the north end of Block Island using Diamond jigs. And last night Andrew Crocker, an associate here, caught a 22” squeteague in Salt Pond using a Ronz lure.” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.  Large numbers of fish being caught in the Bay with larger ones just starting to be caught.  Bonnie Audino caught a 31.5 pound striped bass on her husband Larry’s boat when trolling a T-Man tube and work in the Tauton River. Jeff Ingver of Ocean State Tackle, Providence said, “We have reports of customers catching 34” and 35” fish right at the Hurricane Barrier in Providence with fish even being caught inside the Barrier.  The bite is all on pogies most are chucking rather than live lining with success.”  “Customers caught 42” and a 44” fish in the Bay, one was caught trolling a Niner umbrella rig and the second on a pogie.” said Macedo.  “School striped bass are being caught from southern coastal beaches and in South County ponds where worm hatches have occurred on warm days last week. Not many fish over 28” are being caught but a volume of school bass are in the area.” said Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters.  Ken Landry of Ray’s Bait & Tackle said, “The bass bite is on in the Bay, we landed six nice fish in the 20 to 30 pound range one day with a modest effort when fishing the East Passage of the Bay.”

Fluke fishing has been pretty good in the Bay with anglers landing fish to 22” in the Greenwich Bay/Warwick Light area.  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters said, “Fisheries Island and Misquamicut have been pretty good with customer catching a 21”, even a 24” fish last week.”  “Customers fishing for fluke are saying it has been hard to catch a 19” fish in the Bay, but things are just starting so fluke fishing should improve this week as the water warms.” said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait.  Reports of fish being caught along the south shore on the RISSA blog from several anglers, places like Green Hill, Nebraska Shoal are yielding shorts with keepers mixed in to 21”.  Matt Conti of Snug Harbor said “Customers are catching fluke on the southwest side of Block Island and in the Green Hill area.”

Scup and black sea bass.  “The scup bite is just starting to heat up with customers catch nice sized fish at Colt State Park.” Said Manny Macedo.  The black sea bass bite has been slow put is expected to get better this week as the water warms with a season start date of May 25 with a three fish/person/day limit.

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.”

Bring (seven) fish to your holiday table

Chris Catucci of Warwick, RI with two of the twenty bass he caught last week at Warwick Lake.

Dave Fewster teamed up with Rick Sustello to land eighteen keeper cod last weekend at the East fishing grounds off Block Island. Dave said, “The Point Judith jig was the exact size and similar shape of the small rock crabs they were feasting on.”

Bring (seven) fish to your holiday table
As a child I wasn’t aware of the “seven fishes” eaten on Christmas Eve. All I knew is that I liked eating fish and we had a lot of it on Christmas Eve. We had fish because you had to fast (abstain from meat), just as you had to fast every Friday back then. This is what Italian Catholic families did. And, it is where eating “seven fishes” on Christmas Eve came from.
There are many theories why the tradition of “seven” fish came into being. Some say for the seven days it took to make the earth, others say it pays tribute to the last seven of the Ten Commandments, which relate to human interaction, and still others say it reminds us of the seven deadly sins. However, some in Italy do not have a tradition of seven fish but rather one of twelve fish (for the twelve apostles) or a thirteen fish tradition (for the twelve apostles plus one for Jesus). So no matter one fish or thirteen, many Italian families have the tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve.
What type of fish do people eat? My family often started with antipasto with anchovies (no meat), snail salad, fried smelts, baccala (dry cod fish preserved in salt that is soaked for days to get the salt out), stuffed squid in a red sauce over linguini, baked white fish (haddock, cod or hake), baked stuffed shrimp and stuffed quahogs.
As fishermen, it is nice to bring fish to our holiday table. Fishing is such a big part of our lives and is one of the few natural foods we can catch, clean, prepare and eat much the way people have for centuries.
Here are two fish recipes for the holidays.

Sandy’s tasty fish casserole
Sandy Ducharme of East Greenwich, RI is a great friend and great cook. She (and her husband Gerry) prepared a fish casserole for us this past weekend. Not a milky, gooey casserole but a lightly baked dish of rice pilaf, cod, sea scallops and jumbo shrimp. Sandy said, “It is a great recipe for entertaining because you can make it ahead of time and then just bake it prior to dinner.”
Ingredients (serves eight)
2 pounds of white fish (cod, haddock or hake)
16 sea scallops, two per person
16 large shrimp (uncooked), two per person
½ cup lemon juice
½ stick butter or margarine
½ to ¾ cup lemon pepper panko bread crumbs (Sandy uses Progresso)
2 packages Far East rice pilaf
½ cup parmesan cheese
Cook rice pilaf as directed on package and set aside. Melt butter and mix with bread crumbs and set aside. Coat fish and shrimp (not scallops) with lemon juice, set on paper towel and pat dry. Place half of cooked rice pilaf on the bottom of a 9” x 12” baking dish. Place white fish on top of rice, sprinkle half of the butter/bread crumbs and cheese over white fish, place sea scallops and shrimp on top, place remaining rice on top of scallops and shrimp then sprinkle remanding butter/bread crumb mixture and top off with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Sandy said, “When the shrimp turns pink it’s done.”

Captain Dave’s Linguini with white quahog sauce
Ingredients:
½ cup virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced (or 4 teaspoons chopped garlic from jar)
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley (plus four to five good pinches)
½ cup dry white wine
½ lemon juice
red pepper
3 dozen (scrubbed) littleneck quahogs (1 ½ to 2 inches)
meat of 6 to 8 large quahogs cut-up and cleaned (optional)
1 pound linguini pasta

Scrub littleneck quahog shells thoroughly and put them aside. Cook linguine while making recipe. Heat extra virgin olive oil in heavy pasta pan over medium heat, cook garlic in oil until golden brown (about one minute). Add and stir in 1/3 cup chopped parsley and all the unopened little necks, let simmer for two minutes. Add wine and let simmer for one minute. Add lemon and the meat of six to eight large quahogs cut up and cleaned (extra quahog meat is optional; if I catch them I put them in). Add red pepper to taste. Cook for eight to ten minutes or until all quahogs are open. Discard quahogs that are not open. Lower heat and put in one pound of cooked linguini and toss the entire mixture, put into large pasta bowl, then garnish with four pinches of fresh parsley. (This recipe is a variation of one I first saw in the May, 2002 issue of Bon Appétit magazine by Lori Demori.)

Where’s the bite
Freshwater. Chris Catucci of Warwick, RI said, “The fall bass fishing bite reached its peak last week. My friend and I got about 20 bass each, fish seemed very aggressive and the best producing baits were white chatterbaits and chrome lipless crankbaits. The fish were in shallow water fattening up for winter. It was a great day at Warwick Lake.”
Cod fishing is picking up nicely. The East fishing grounds off Block Island continues to yield nice keeper cod fish (minimum size for cod is 22” with a ten fish/angler/day limit). RISAA anglers Rick Sustello and Dave Fewster fished the East fishing grounds Friday. Rick said, “We started hooking up immediately with cod and black sea bass and an occasional dog fish. Cod were 3:1 keeper to short. The cod were beautiful and fat. They were all gagging up crabs and small lobsters…we decided to anchor over (a hot spot) and try crabs, clams and Jigs… In total we caught 18 keeper Cod up to 15 lbs on jigs, crabs and clams and nine keeper black sea bass up to 4 lbs.” Mary Dangelo of Maridee Canvas, Bait & Tackle, Narragansett, RI said, “Shore angler customers are catching cod for shore, no keepers reported, but still this is a good sign.”
Blue fishing. Anglers along the southern coastal shore are reporting great action. Dave Garzolie said on the RISAA blog that he fished the Charlestown Breach way from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Dave said, “The primary baitfish appeared to be sea herring. I caught fish on almost every cast. I was throwing a 2 ounce pencil popper.”
Striped bass fishing is good along the shore. Mary Dangelo said, “I weighted in a 25 pound bass last week that was caught by a shore angler off Matunuck Beach.” John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, East Providence, RI said, “A customer caught nineteen keeper bass in the 30” range snagging and live lining menhaden under the I-195, I-way bridge at 2:30 a.m. on an incoming tide.” Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence said, “This Monday customers reported catching keeper bass at India Point Park (Providence) using surface plugs.”
Tautog. Captain John Sheriff said, “(This weekend) we fished for Tautog off Newport area reefs. Limits of keeper Tautog each day. Fished in 55 feet of water on Friday with excellent sea conditions for December. Fished in water up to 90 feet on Saturday which produced three nice keeper cod on crabs in addition to the limit of Tautog.”

Fishing for cod is fun for adults and children

John Toppa of Newport with a 20 pound cod he caught on a Francis Fleet vessel New Year’s Day. The cod was the largest fish caught on the boat that day.

Cod fishing is great for children too. Andrew Martin of Warwick went cod fishing New Year’s Day with his uncle. That’s a school vacation experience that will give him plenty of stories to tell when back in school.

Cod is an ideal species to target if fishing with children, because all they have to do is drop their line to the bottom. And, it is one of the most popular eating fish in New England. Cod are bottom fish that are basically lazy. They are not aggressively hunting, they pretty much stay on the bottom, often near structure (underwater wrecks, rock piles, holes, humps and drop offs), waiting for prey to come by. So you have to go to where the cod are to catch them. They are not likely going to come to you.

New Year’s Day I went cod fishing with twenty other anglers on a Francis Fleet party boat. A coast guard inspected vessel that takes more than six people fishing is commonly referred to as a party boat. Cod fishing for a full day (7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) generally runs about $80 depending on whether or not you use the boats gear or your own. It takes about an hour to an hour and half to get to where the captain likes to fish for cod (usually Cox’s Ledge if you leave from Point Judith, Rhode Island).

New Year’s Day was perfect, it was in the 50 degree range, seas early in the day were about four to five feet, but they laid down as the day progressed. Most every one caught cod fish on this trip. I caught four fish and two were keepers (cod must be 22” or longer to keep them). Some on board caught three, four and five fish. One angler who used jigs to fish most of the day caught eight. The largest fish of the day was caught by John Toppa of Newport, Rhode Island. His fish was 35 inches and weighted about 20 pounds.

There were some anglers in their 60’s and 70’s and a number of them in their 20’s and 30’s and my favorite angler who I fished next to all day was Andrew Martin of Warwick who was thirteen years old. His uncle took him for this special fishing trip during holiday school vacation. He will have some good stories to tell when back in school. Overall it was a great fishing day on the water and a trip that I would recommend. Visit the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association web site at www.rifishing.com for a complete list of vessels that fish for cod. Pick one with a heated cabin as it get pretty cold out on the ocean in January, February and March.

Cod rigs and bait

A hook, sinker weight that holds the bottom and sea clams are often used as bait to catch cod. Jigs of various sizes, color and weight depending on conditions are used too. Cod will generally eat anything that is in front of them, they are not picky, but you have to get their attendion and jigs usually do a good job of this. A common rig used is a diamond jig with a colored teaser buck tail tied about 12 inches above the jig. Anglers often tip the jig and buck tail with live bait (a piece of sea clam). Most anglers use a traditional boat rod and reel to catch cod. A short, sturdy 30 to 40 pound test rod of five to six feet is common with a traditional real of similar weight capacity. A fifty pound test line (both braid and monofilament) are used.

Cod fish is good for you too

The livestorng.com website says that cod, a coldwater fish, is particular good for you. The site relates that, “Cod offers a good source of omega-3 fatty acids which helps lower risks of cardiovascular disorders including atherosclerosis. Cod also provides a good source of vitamins B6, B12 and niacin which factor into a reduced osteoporosis risk...”

The cod fishery

Angler and noted fishing author Tim Coleman relates that the cod fishery is not in good shape. On his Tattoo’s Tackle web site he relates that cod is “The vanished fish”. Cod continue to diminish and appear farther and farther off shore. Tim relates, “… (with) the stocks so far down no fishing is allowed (from Rhode Island beaches), hoping to save the percentage that is left. In the process the beach fishing for cod is gone, gone, gone, some say never to return.” A sample of how cod fishing use to be off Rhode Island beaches is related by Tim in the story he tells off Del and Joe Corneau of Westerly, RI who use to fish 100 yards of the Quonny Breachway. Tim said, “Fishing from roughly 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. the pair landed 17 cod to 64 pounds! Today one would be hard pressed to catch a fish that size…”

New Kettlebottom Outfitters Productions (KBOP) Videos

Captain Robb Roach of Kettlebottom Outfitters, Jamestown, RI has announced the publication of two new videos that are teasers for their new season of KBOP productions on Cox Sports. The teasers and a host of other videos can be viewed on YouTube or on demand if you have COX cable. One of the videos is about making fluke rigs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoM-dF-6Caw ) and the second one is about spear fishing for striped bass off Newport (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrSppgDpIZ0 ), both are great fun to watch.

Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council Panel Meetings

A number of Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Panel meeting open to the public are scheduled for this month. Anglers are welcome and urged to attend as these meetings allow all anglers to provided input into State Fisheries policy. The meetings include a Menhaden Advisory Panel meting scheduled for Thursday, January 6, 2011, a Striped bass Advisory Panel scheduled for Wednesday, January 12 and a Scup and Black Sea Bas Advisory Panel meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 26. All meetings are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the UREI Bay Campus, Coastal Institute, Hazard Room off of South Ferry Road in Narragansett, RI. For additional information contact Jason McNamee at 401.423.1943.