No Fluke

Trout season winds down; Moment of truth for striped bass

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The Rhode Island winter trout season is winding down.  The daily creel and possession limit for trout and/or salmon singly or in aggregate, is two fish from Dec. 1, 2019 through Feb. 29, 2020. The trout season opens again on the second Saturday of April, this year it is Saturday, April 11.

With no ice due to a warm winter Rhode Island anglers had a good season from shore when their lures found open water.  Angler John Migliori of Aquidneck Island said, “The winter trout season is just about over and I have had a great season fishing at Melville Pond in Portsmouth. I have caught many brook, brown, and rainbow trout as well as salmon. Because it was a mild winter I had great success casting lures as there was no ice. I caught my largest rainbow trout ever, a 7 pound, 15 ounce fish which earned me a state award.”

Moment of truth for striped bass

In Rhode Island, the Marine Fisheries Council will meet Monday, March 2, 6 p.m. at Corless Auditorium, URI Bay Campus, Narragansett. The Council agenda will be jam-packed with 2020 recreational and commercial fishing regulations including recreational summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, striped bass, tautog and bluefish. Commercial issues on the agenda will include striped bass, tautog, monkfish and skate. These are the regulations for state waters zero to three miles from shore.
Striped bass regulations options are sure to be a highlight at the meeting. Comments were spirited at the February 10 public hearing with charter captains at the meeting vying for the split mode option of  30” to <40” for charter and party boats and 32” to < 40” for private anglers. 

Private anglers at the meeting, led by leaders from the RI Saltwater Angler Association and the American Saltwater Guides Association are advocating for the 28” to < 35” option for all modes for consistency with neighboring states and to keep charter and private angler regulations the same. The 28” to < 35” option had been approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) that regulates striped bass fishing coastwide.

Dan McKiernan, acting director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries sent a February 21 letter to Jason McNamee, marine fishers chief in Rhode Island, asking Rhode Island not to approve separate conservation equivalency measures for striped bass and the for-hire industry.

McKiernan said, “Rhode Island’s adoption of either (conservation equivalency) alternatives would surely erode the conservation benefit of slot limit management in our region given how striped bass migrate between states during their spring and fall migrations.”

McKiernan said, “Fish of 35–40” length that will be protected in ME–MA and CT–NY, will be open to harvest in RI; while fish of 28–32” (or 28–30”) length that will be protected in RI, will be open to harvest in ME–MA and CT–NY.”

The conservation associated with any regulation also relies on how effectively it is complied with and enforced.  Rhode Island’s actions to support conservation equivalency alternations are running counter of the best advice of ASMFC scientists. McKiernan said, “The Law Enforcement Committee and the Striped Bass Technical Committee (of the ASMFC) have both expressed concern about the compliance and enforcement challenges that will result from different minimum and maximum sizes among neighboring states. These issues suggest that the projected reduction in fishery removals associated with Rhode Island’s conservation equivalency options will not be realized. “

In 2018 Maryland’s striped bass conservation equivalency proposal was approved by the ASMFC, yet the state overfished its striped bass quota by over 215 percent with no consequences the following year.

Scientists and fish managers outside of Rhode Island are urging the state not to approve conservation equivalency options but to stick with the coastwide approved 28” to < 35” for the sake of conservation and consistency with our neighboring states.
For copies of the agenda and presentation for the RI Marine Fisheries Council March 2 meeting visit www.dem.ri.gov/programs/marine-fisheries/rimfc/index.php.

McNamee appointed DEM Deputy Director

Jason McNamee has been appointed Natural Resources Deputy Director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM). In an announcement last week Janet Coit, DEM Director said, “I am pleased to announce that Jason McNamee will be our new Natural Resources Deputy Director. As many of you know, Jason currently serves as Chief of the Division of Marine Fisheries, where he has been an outstanding leader.”

McNamee has been employed by DEM since 2000. He started as a seasonal student researcher with the Division of Fish and Wildlife while working on a master’s degree in oceanography. McNamee first accepted a job working for the Office of Water Resources in early 2001, where he worked on Total Maximum Daily Load studies. In December of 2002, he moved to the Division of Fish and Wildlife Marine Fisheries section (now the Division of Marine Fisheries), where he has been ever since.

Janet Coit said, “Everyone who works with Jason knows he is a thoughtful, hard-working, passionate leader. Jay has led Rhode Island to a more customer-service-focused and science-based approach to fisheries management –while completing his Ph.D. in biological oceanography. His collaborative and analytic approach to problem-solving and public service will be invaluable as we continue to protect and champion Rhode Island’s natural resources in the face of climate change.”

McNamee is well liked in the recreational and commercial fishing communities where most believe he has been a great steward of the fishery resource. He has a great reputation managing marine resources sustainably in Rhode Island, coastwide and nationally with his past work chairing technical committees on both the New England Fisheries Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. 

In 2015, when appointed chief of marine resources, he impressed the fishing community at the Southern New England Recreational Fishing Symposium with his multi-species eco-system research with Atlantic menhaden, striped bass, blue fish and other species which were part of his Ph.D. in Fisheries Oceanography at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography.

Many in the community (including me) have worked with McNamee on council boards and committees as a volunteer.  Everyone I meet has only good things to say about Jason McNamee. He is a solid scientist, fish manager and great person. The fishing community wishes him all the best with his new job as a deputy director at DEM.

Where’s the bite?

Freshwater fishing will slow down next week as the trout season ends in Rhode Island on Saturday, Feb. 29 and will open once again on Opening Day, Saturday, April 8. In the meantime the trout and largemouth bass bite has been pretty good where there is no ice and angler have been able to access fishing from the shore.

Saltwater fishing for cod was off again this week as rough seas kept the water turbid and dirty. Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Another bad weather week kept us tied to the dock. We were able to fish one day and saw very poor fishing. The water was very dirty and could not get a bite going.”

Dave Monti holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. He is a RISAA board member, a member of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association, the American Saltwater Guides Association and the RI Marine Fisheries Council. Forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit www.noflukefishing.com and his blog at www.noflukefishing.blogspot.com.                           

Dave Monti

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