Record bass caught off Block Island

Paul Harrison of Fall River, MA with the 8.5 fluke he caught off Point Judith while charter fishing with Captain John Sheriff last week.

Jeff Briggs (left) of Bristol and his father Gary (right) with the first striped bass keeper Jeff has ever caught. The fish was taken in the East Passage.

Record bass caught off Block Island

Peter Vican of East Greenwich, RI caught a record 77.40 lb striped bass this Sunday, June 19. Peter’s fish set a new Rhode Island state record. The fish was caught at night using eels as bait outside New Harbor, Block Island. The fish was just one pound shy of the world record. Congratulations Peter.

Take-a-kid fishing big success
The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) held their annual Take-a-kid fishing day this Saturday, June 18. About 250 children went fishing on 85 boats owned by volunteers. Steve Medeiros, president of RISAA, said, “The event is designed for youngsters who would not otherwise have a chance to get out on the water and fish.”

DEM reminds saltwater anglers that they need a license
With the Fourth of July fast approaching and the 2011 saltwater fishing season underway, the Department of Environmental Management reminds anglers and spear fishers that a 2011 saltwater fishing license is needed to fish recreationally in all marine waters. You can get a license online or at participating bait and tackle shops or sporting good stores.

Obtaining a license online is easy. Just go to www.saltwater.ri.gov. Have a driver's license or state identification card handy, as well as your date of birth, address, and phone number. For Rhode Island residents over 65 and for active military personnel stationed in the state, licenses are free, but still required. For all others, the $7 fee ($10 for non-residents) is payable using a VISA, MasterCard or Discover card. Once the information is entered, you can immediately print your license and go fishing.
No license is needed for children under 16; anglers fishing on a licensed party or charter boat; anglers who hold a Highly Migratory Species Angling permit; anglers or spear fishers who are on leave from active military duty; or anglers or spear fishers who are blind or permanently disabled.
DEM and Coast Guard conduct “Operation Dry Water” to enforce boating under the influence law
Safe boating patrols will be stepped up on June 24 to June 26 in a joint operation conducted by the Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Law Enforcement and US Coast Guard Units from Castle Hill and Point Judith. The effort is part of Operation Dry Water, a coordinated national weekend of Boating under the Influence (BUI) detection and enforcement. It is aimed at reducing the number of alcohol-related accidents and fatalities, and fostering a stronger and more visible deterrent to alcohol use on the water. Marine law enforcement officers will be out in full force on Rhode Island waterways throughout the long weekend, searching for boat operators whose blood alcohol content exceeds the limit of .08 percent. Rhode Island law sets limits and penalties for boating while intoxicated that are similar to the driving while intoxicated standards, and requires the same levels of testing.

Special Senate Taskforce on Fisheries releases final report
The Special Senate Taskforce on Fisheries, chaired by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown, New Shoreham), has released its final report detailing the challenges facing the fisheries industry in Rhode Island.
The taskforce was developed on November 18, 2010 to track the status and trends of the fishing industries of Rhode Island. It was charged with working cooperatively with management agencies, educational institutions, environmental organizations, businesses and fishermen to meet the challenges ahead and recommend viable ideas and solutions for protecting the fishing way of life.
Here are highlights of findings and actions taken by the task forces to address key issues.
Finding: Rhode Island’s lack of representation on the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Council. Action: Introduction/passage of a bill urging our state Congressional Delegation to pass representation legislation.

Finding: RI’s current regulations do not facilitate the sale of local fresh fish at farmers’ markets and other mobile market venues. Action: Passage of a bill by the Senate to establish a Rhode Island Seafood Marketing Collaborative that will address regulatory and marketing issues pertaining to local seafood.

Finding: RI aquaculture farms are not inspected twice annually by the RI Department of Health and DEM which is a violation of the federal Food and Drug Administration requirements. Action: At the Fisheries Taskforce meeting, DEM addressed these concerns and discussed potential solutions through agency regulations and policies implemented at a future date.

Finding: RI seafood products face domestic competition from imported seafood products, with more than eighty percent of the total seafood consumed in the US originating in foreign countries. Action: Introduction and passage of a Senate bill urging Congress to pass legislation that support adequate funding for effective and sustained domestic marketing of US seafood.

Finding: RI law requires that shellfish harvested from polluted waters be transferred to clean water for one year before selling, other New England states require as little as three weeks. Action: At a Taskforce meeting, DEM addressed concerns and discussed solutions through future regulations and policies.

Finding: Rhode Island commercial and recreational fishermen face minimal state penalties and fines for illegally possessing striped bass and for repeat offenses of such violations. Action: Passage of bill by Senate Judiciary to increase the fines and penalties for illegally possessing striped bass.

Finding: There is not a federally-funded national seafood marketing fund available for the domestic marketing of American seafood. Action: Senate resolution 2011-S 0850 also addresses this concern.

Finding: The lack of resources and materials to support consumer seafood education programs results in consumers being unaware of the availability of locally caught fresh seafood products. Action: Senate bill 2011-S 0997 also addresses this concern.

Where’s the bite
Striped bass fishing has been improving. Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina said, “The bass are getting larger. We had fish in the 40 lbs and 50 lbs range this week and then Peter Vican’s record fish”. Still a log of dog fish when the water is not moving. Fishing in the East Passage is still very good. Anglers reporting pods of menhaden from Popasquash Point, Bristol all the way up the Providence River. Fish being caught on live and chuck menhaden as well as tube and worm. Don Hampton of Holden, MA caught three nice keepers last week while using light tackle fishing in the East Passage on No Fluke charters.
Fluke fishing is improving too. Reports of large fish over 15 lbs being taken off Warwick Neck. Captain Rich Hittinger said, “The fluke are getting large.” Rich reports a good fluke bite off southern coastal shores with fish in the 8 to 9 lbs range being taken last week.
Fresh water fishing is very good. Bass bite is excellent. Chris Catucci of Warwick said, “The Junior bass fishing tournament was held on Johnson's Pond last week… 9 pounds won the event I came in 2nd with about 7 pounds. Fish were hitting senkos in either junebug or green pumpkin, shaky heads and spinnerbaits were also productive. Small fish were easy to come by but kickers were hard to find. The bluegill spawn is in full force.”

Fresh RI fish coming your way

Hannah Mellion of Farm Fresh Rhode Island talks about their fresh fish pilot project at the RI Senate Special Task Force on Fisheries chaired by Senator Sosnowski.

Fresh RI fish coming your way

How would you like to buy fresh Rhode Island cod, striped bass or flounder for dinner tonight and know where and when it was caught and a little something about the captain and crew that caught it? This is what the Local Catch Pilot project of Farm Fresh Rhode Island and Local Catch, Inc. is doing. They aim to bring fresh local fish to market at competitive prices.

Hannah Mellion of Farm Fresh Rhode Island said, “We are applying the same model we used to successfully bring fresh RI produce to restaurants, farmer markets and supermarkets and are applying it to fresh fish caught in Rhode Island.” Efforts to bring fresh RI fish to market were outlined last week by Local Catch, Inc. and Farm Fresh RI at the Special RI Senate Task Force on Fisheries chaired by Senator V. Susan Sosnowski (D-South Kingstown and New Shoreham). Larry Mouradjian and Ken Ayers of the Department of Environmental Management also spoke. Ken was responsible for helping to start the “RI Fresh” movement and said his department has set aside $20,000 in grant money to start a RI Seafood Marketing Collaborative whose purpose will be to market fresh Rhode Island fish.

Another speaker a last week’s hearing was Eric Reid from Deep Sea Fish of Rhode Island, a RI seafood wholesaler, who said stable markets are needed to bring fresh RI fish to market, “We can’t have derby fishing.” Relating to the way fisheries are often managed by dictating that they must only fish on a limited number of days taking away their flexibility and ability to bring fish to market in a consistent, reliable manner (see below story on successful fisheries sector management techniques).

Steve Brustein, chef/manager of The Met, a Rhode Island School of Design campus restaurant, is a Farm Fresh Rhode Island customer. He said, “We loved it when Farm Fresh RI organized farmers and offered fresh produce to chefs, now we are very excited about the opportunity to purchase fresh fish.”

Branding Rhode Island fish as fresh, wholesome, nutritious and reasonably priced is something that I think is a great idea. Branding RI fish in this manner will help recreational fishing in RI as well as commercial fishing.

NOAA points to success of “sector” fisheries management
Under a new fisheries management program effective since last May, revenues increased for the Northeast groundfishery during the first nine months of the 2010 fishing year compared to same period in 2009.

Higher average prices for all species accounted for the increased revenues. These are among the findings in an interim report released by NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Researchers looked at gross revenues, fishing effort, average vessel performance, distribution of revenues, and employment for the first nine months of the 2007 through 2010 fishing years. Among the new trends are increased revenues and prices. Revenues from all species on all trips by groundfish vessels in the first nine months of 2010 were up about $24 million over the same period in 2009.

New England groundfish management measures which took effect in 2010 include annual catch limits to prevent overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks and two options for controlling fishing effort. Fishermen can either form groups and fish an allotted share of the total allowed catch (like the RI Fluke Sector Pilot mentioned below) or fish individually with a limit on the number of days spent fishing.

Another successful example of “Sector” management is the commercial RI Fluke Sector Pilot which is now in its third year. Since its inception this Pilot Fluke Sector has grown, new members have been added as fishermen saw the benefits of flexibility… being able to fish when other species were not available or when market demand is highest. The sector has proven to be a very effective way to sustain the resource as well with record low discard rates compared to the days a sea method.

Rhode Island recreation saltwater fishing license challenge
Last week I received an e-mail from reader Tom Poirier who said he supported the Rhode Island bill that would “make the fishing license free”, Rhode Island House Bill # 5584 introduced by Rep. Gallison of Bristol. Tom said, “The state of NY just put a two year moratorium on their license… (In RI) we are paying for something (data collection and research) that is not going to happen.”

The Federal Government mandated that all coastal states have a registry (or license program) that supplied contact information on all saltwater anglers for surveys and data collection to obtain more accurate fishery data to manage better. The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) worked with DEM to write the Saltwater Fishing License law we presently have. Funds raised by the license will go into a separate fund that must be used to enhance the fishery. It does not go into the general fund. The Federal Government will use the data collected by the State to study recreational fishing.

Last week Gary Leatherberry, an avid angler and associate at Erickson’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said during a NBC Channel 10 interview that he supported the existing State license law, saw the need for data collection to better manage and had faith that the funds collected would be properly used. This is a view shared by many anglers including RISAA, an organization that represents over 6,000 recreational anglers in Rhode Island. The State of RI is in tough fiscal condition. Funds to implement a state registry with no fee would likely make the situation worse.

Where’s the bite
Striped bass fishing continues to improve. Rich Di Giuseppe of North Kingstown caught a nice keeper bass (very clean fish) in Greenwich Bay on No Fluke Charters Friday night. John Wunner of John’s Bait & Tackle, North Kingstown reports keeper bass being caught by customers at Mt. View in North Kingstown and in Greenwich Bay. Craig Castro of Erickson’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said school bass are being caught in Apponaug and Greenwich coves. Bob Oberg fished the East Bay Friday night from his kayak, at sundown on an outgoing tide, he said “Caught four fish in about twenty minutes, including a 29-incher and a 27-incher… using tube and worm with a light rod.”
The squid are in and are being taken at Goat Island and Ft. Wetherill said John Wunner of John’s Bait & Tackle. Charlie Santos of Tiverton said, “The squid fishers are shoulder to shoulder at the Calamari Causeway (Goat Island) Newport…(they are also likely) at Fort Getty in Jamestown, Sakonnet Point in Little Compton, Pt. Judith docks, on the Cape in Falmouth and the Woods Hole town docks.”

Fluke. Bruce an associate at Breachway Bait & Tackle in Charlestown said customers have been catching small fluke with some keepers off southern coastal beaches. Similar reports from Francis Fleet vessels.
Tautog bite remains good in the bay with hot action taking place in the upper bay. John Wunner said, “Bullocks Point, Rocky Point, Conimicut Light and other East Bay areas are producing good sized tautog.”