Anglers Will Face "Slot Limit" for Striped Bass in 2020-2021

R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

www.RISAA.org 401-826-2121NOVEMBER, 2019 • Issue 250

Representing Over 7,500 Recreational Anglers

Anglers Will Face "Slot Limit"for Striped Bass in 2020-2021

Circle Hooks Mandatedfor Striped Bass Bait FishingAs part of the Addendum VI being adopted by the ASMFC

to conserve striped bass, the Atlantic Striped Bass Managementboard adopted themandatory use of circlehooks when using bait tocatch striped bass.

This was a unanimous"yes" vote by all coastalstates.

Max Appleman, the Striper Management Plan Coordinator,told the commissioners that there was "little doubt that circlehooks save fish." Circle hooks reduce mortality from deephooking as the fish swallow the bait.

Of the 5,003 comments received from the public related tocircle hooks, 4,930 were in favor.

The commissioners also agreed that the circle hook mandatewould not take effect until 2021 to give states enough time todevelop programs to educate the public and for the tackle industryto gear up to supply the approved hook types to fishermen.

(more on page 37)

On Wednesday, October 30, the Atlantic StripedBass Management Board of the Atlantic StatesMarine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted toadopt changes in regulations to achieve an 18%reduction in striped bass taken by both therecreational and commercial fisheries.

This is taking place as the ASMFC adoptsAddendum VI, a change in the FisheriesManagement Plan that became mandatory when itwas determined that the Striped Bass SpawningStock Biomass had fallen below the level that wouldallow the fishery to survive in the future.

As a result, angler will be allowed to take onlystripers that measure between 28 to 35 inches.

(to page 37)

I’ve been thinking about this for thepast couple of months and I know thatit is a hard topic to breach, but maybewe can all do a bit of thinking about it.

When the striped bass SSB shortfallcame up lastwinter, oneof theimpor tan ts t a t i s t i c sthat cameout was thenumber ofstriped bassthat do nots u r v i v ew h e nreleased.

It ise s t ima tedthat 90% of all recreationally caughtstriped bass are not retained and arereleased. Mass-achusetts DMV saysit’s 93% in that state.

The ASMFC Striped Bass TechnicalCommittee determined that“recreational dead releases areestimated using a 9% post-releasemortality rate for MRIP’s estimate.”This is called release mortality.

Seeing that number printed in areport didn’t sound too bad.... until Isaw the graph! The number of stripersthat die after release (purple area) islarger than the number of stripers takenhome by all rec anglers!

Neither my wife or I have everyenjoyed eating fish (I know...I’ve heardall the wise cracks). In all the years Ihave fished for stripers, I alwaysreleased them, except on a few rareoccasions when a fish couldn’t swimaway, and in that case I cleaned it andgave to family.

But for years I only fished forstripers in the spring until the flukeseason opened, and then I wouldn’ttarget stripers again until the followingyear.

Going back to those days, we didn’t

- 2 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

have the kind of fisheries data andstatistics like today. So now, afterlearning about current catch & release(C&R) statistics, I now realize thatmany of those stripers I released

probablyresul tedin a lot ofdead fish.

I ’ l lcertainlykeep thisin mindg o i n gforward.

Maybeall stripedb a s sa n g l e r sneed to

consider changing how they fish?There are multiple factors that effect

the survivability of released fish:• physical injury (esp. deep hooking)• stress• water temperature• water salinity

In years past I’ve been at the RIsouth shore during the fall schooliestriper run when many anglers wouldcatch them from the surf. Manyhandled their catch carefully, but I alsosaw many fish that were laid on thesand to get the hook out and thenactually kicked back to the water. I’vebeen told this still happens.

I’ve seen anglers boast online thatthey “caught and released 50 stripersthat day.” That also means they likelykilled 4 or 5 of them. Multiply that byall the anglers who do the same, andit’s obvious why there is a problem.

So for every 100 stripers released, 9will die...multiplied by thousands ofanglers.

But I don’t have the answer.Everyone should be allowed to legallygo fishing. Just be aware of that 9%number and do whatever you think isright.

The Official Newsletter of theRhode Island

Saltwater Anglers AssociationPublished Monthly

Rhode Island Saltwater AnglersAssociation, Inc.

P.O. Box 1465Coventry, RI 02816

Nov 2 • 8:00 AM SurfcastersCommittee fishing at CharlestownBreachway

Nov 4 • 4:00 PM SurfcastersCommittee

Nov 6 • 3:00 PM Fly FishingCommittee Fishing at Narrow River

Nov 11 • 6:30 PM Fly FishingCommittee Annual Meeting

Nov 18 • 6:30 PM Kayak CommitteeAnnual Meeting

Nov 19 • Board of Directors meeting

Nov 25 • 7:00 PM Monthly Seminar

Dec 3-5 • New England FisheriesManagement Council Meeting,Hotel Viking, Newport, RI

Dec 17 • Board of Directors meeting

Dec 30 • 7:00 PM RISAA AnnualMeeting

Jan 25 • 22nd ANNUAL BANQUETQuonset ‘O’ Club, North Kingstown

Jan 27 • 7:00 PM Monthly Seminar

Feb 24 • 7:00 PM Monthly Seminar

Mar 27-27 • 17th Annual NewEngland Saltwater Fishing Show

Mar 30 • 7:00 PM Monthly Seminar

Striper Catch & Release Stats Alarming

ast,

f

Striped Bass have been getting the most attention since therelease of the stock assessment that makes it obvious additionalmanagement of stripers will be required.

The ASMFC public meeting in Rhode Island on September24 was probably one of the highest turnouts I have seen for aspecies-specific hearing. That being said, I was both pleasedand disappointed to see a notable increase in audience.Considering the subject was a broad ranging set of proposalsincluded the question of whether circle hooks should be mademandatory for those using bait I thought more might attend.

The majority of the audience were RISAA members whosupported theRISAA Board’sposition of a slotlimit of 32 to 40inches in lengthfor a calculated21% reduction.

The RISAABoard also backedthe voluntary useof circle hooks,and the mandateof education ofthe benefits ofusing circle hooks by the coastal states. There is a great deal ofconcern that establishing a mandatory requirement use wouldbe a regulatory nightmare.

I asked the question, “If I was not targeting striped bassbut landed a legal fish, would I be required to release it if I didnot use a circle hook?” I did’t expect an answer, but it pointsout one of many issues that a mandatory circle hook law couldcreate.

JUVENILE STRIPED BASS DOWNThe Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced

the results of the Young-of-Year Striped Bass Survey, whichtracks reproduction of the species in Chesapeake Bay. The2019 juvenile striped bass index is 3.4, below the 66-year averageof 11.6. (see page 5)

The similar annual study done by the State of VirginiaScience suggest that an “average year class” of young-of-yearstriped bass was produced in Virginia tributaries of the

- 3 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Black Sea Bass, Bluefish, Scup, Striped BassWill All Be Affected In 2020

The RISAA Legislative Committee’s mission is to provide, in partnership with the Affiliated Clubs, a forum for improving the knowledge andunderstanding of fishery-related and government issues that affect recreational anglers. An informed membership encourages involvement andadvocacy. The Legislative Committee will strive to advocate responsible fishery decision.

The Committee is comprised of RISAA Members and delegates from the Affiliated Clubs. The Committee meets two or three times a year,depending on the number of fishery and/or legislative issues that develop.

n Chesapeake Bay in 2019.Taken together these are not numbers that will give us even

an average year class and emphasizes the importance of goodfuture management initiatives.

ASMFC TO HANDLE ADDENDUMThe ASMFC Annual Meeting was to be held in Newcastle,

NH on Oct. 28-30 with the Striped Bass Management Boardscheduled to meet for finalization of Addendum VI for finalapproval. (This report was done before the meeting so I willupdate you next month)

STATUS OFBLACK SEA

BASS,BLUEFISH,

SCUP,SUMMER

FLOUNDERThe Manage-

ment Boards of theAtlantic StatesMarine Fisheries

Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries ManagementCouncil, which jointly manage certain species, have releasednew specifications for Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, Scupand Bluefish.

BLACK SEA BASSThe 2019 black sea bass

(BSB) stock assessmentconcluded there was nooverfishing nor was overfishing occurring. Spawning stockbiomass (BSB) was estimated to be 2.4 times the biomass targetof 2018. In other words, there are a lot of BSB out there, aseveryone who fishes saltwater told them.

According to the numbers released this will result in a 59%increase for both commercial and recreational landings.

HOWEVER, according to the Board, “managers will not beable to liberalize recreational measures in 2020 despite theincrease in the RHL (recreational harvest limit).” (to page 33)

- 4 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

Got a recipe to share or request for a certain recipe?Contact Sandie at [email protected]

Combine seeded chile, garlic, red pepper and 2 tsp oil in alarge zip-top plastic bag. Add fish to the bag; seal andrefrigerate for 30 minutes.Remove fish from bag, discard marinade. Brush chile offfish.Place egg white in a shallow dish. Combine panko and rindan another shallow dish.Dip fish in egg white; dredge in panko mixture. Repeatprocedure with remaining fillets.Sprinkle fillets with salt.Heat remaining 1 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; saute 3 minutes or until goldenbrown.Turn fish over; cook 4 minutes or until fish flakes easilywhen test with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.Serve with lemon wedges.

•

•

•

••

•

• 1/4 cup finely chopped seeded Anaheim chile peppers• 1 tsp minced garlic• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper• 5 tsp canola oil, divided• 4 (6 ounce) striped bass fillets• 2 lg white eggs, lightly beaten• 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs• 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind• 1/4 tsp salt• 4 lemon wedges

Welcome new memberswho joined last month!

Robert BauteCranston, RI

Michael BrenBurrillville, RI

Capt. Matt CoxWakefield, RI

Dave EllsCharlestown, RI

Steven EnanderManville, RI

Jane JackmanUxbridge, MA

Christopher KeenNewport, RI

Russell McGillPawtucket, RI

Chuck NorsigianPortsmouth, RI

Gary VandemoorteleGreenville, RI

The purpose of the Welcome Committee is to contact newmembers, welcome them to the Association and answer anyquestions they may have about RISAA and its activities. Chile Pepper

Striped Bass

Anaheim chile peppers

On October 17, 2019, the MarylandDepartment of Natural Resources (MDDNR) announced the results of theYoung-of-Year Striped Bass Survey, which tracksreproduction of the species in Chesapeake Bay.

The 2019 juvenile striped bass index is 3.4,below the 66-year average of 11.6.

The Young-of-Year Striped Bass Survey measures the annualspawning success of the striped bass, commonly known asrockfish (inM a r y l a n d ) .The indexrepresents thea v e r a g enumber ofr e c e n t l yh a t c h e dstriped basscaptured insamples takenduring thesurvey.

During thisyear’s survey,b i o l o g i s t scollected morethan 51,000fish of 54d i f f e r e n ts p e c i e s ,including 445young-of-yearstriped bass.

While theabundance ofsome important forage specieslike silversides, spot, andmenhaden increased inMaryland waters, the surveyshowed that white perch andyellow perch experiencedbelow-average reproduction.

Weather, river flows, andavailability of food for newlyhatched fish are all importantfactors in the spawning successof fish such as striped bass.Although the specific cause of this year’s poor spawning hasnot yet been determined, large variations in annual reproductivesuccess are normal for the Bay’s striped bass population.

Typically, several years of average reproduction areinterspersed with high and low years. While three of the pastfive years have produced strong numbers of young-of-yearstriped bass, the MD DNR is recommending continuedmonitoring and conservation measures.

“The Chesapeake Bay spawning stock is stillcapable of high reproductive success under theright conditions,” Assistant Secretary for AquaticResources Bill Anderson said. “We will continue

to work with our partners along the Atlantic coast and implementmeasures to responsibly manage the Chesapeake Bay stripedbass population.”

Beginning in 2018, the MD DNR launched initiatives aimedat reducing striped bass mortality during the fishing season.Those measures included new regulations on size limits andmandatory circle hooks, plus an education campaign on safe

c a t c h - a n d -r e l e a s epractices thatnow includesan advisorysystem ono p t i m a lconditions forfishing.

T h edepa r tmen thas monitoredt h ereproductivesuccess ofstriped bassand other fishspecies inMary land’sportion of theChesapeakeBay since1954, makingthis one of theoldest fish

surveys in the country. Twenty-twosurvey sites are located in the four majorspawning areas: Choptank, Nanticoke,and Potomac rivers and the UpperChesapeake Bay. Biologists visit eachsite three times per summer, collectingfish with two sweeps of a 100-foot seinenet. After each observation, scientistssafely and carefully return the fish tothe water.

The index number is the result ofaveraging the number of recently

hatched striped bass caught in each of these samples.

- 5 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Striped Bass Index Documents Below-Average Year

Scientists carefully conduct a seine net surveyalong the Chesapeaker Bay during the summer

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:The Striped Bass that we see in New England comefrom the three major spawning grounds:Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River and HudsonRiver in New York.

Wait a minute! The MRIP (Marine RecreationalInformation Program), the government’s way to estimaterecreational fishing harvest, is now using the saltwater fishingregistry and producing better data – right?

How can that be bad for recreational fishing?Well, I don’t have a good answer to that question, but I see

what happened to fluke fishing in the Northeast in 2019.The new MRIP data shows dramatically more recreational

fishing effort than previously estimated by NOAA Fisheries.When paired with catch estimates this then calculates to a muchhigher estimated harvest by recreational fishers in past years,both because of fish taken and because of dead discards.

The next step is the one that could kill recreational fishing:these greatly increased harvest estimates lead fisheries biologiststo calculate significantly higher stocks of fish in the ocean.

But why are higher stocks of fish bad?Well, once the stock estimates are so much higher fisheries

managers decide that they can now allow greater harvest. Thisthen allows the commercial harvest limit or quota to be raisedsubstantially, but because recreational harvest now has beenestimated to already be so much higher than previously thought,recreational limits are reduced or held constant.

This is exactly what happened in the case of fluke fishingin the Northeast this year.

The commercial quota was increased by 68% while therecreational quota was reduced by about 15%. This led tocommercial fishing 7 days per week rather than the previous 4days per week and daily limits of 100 pounds compared to theprevious 50 pounds. The end result was commercial fishermenfished more hours and spent more money on fuel to sell flukeat a lower price because there was more fluke on the market,resulting in lower earnings.

All that additional commercial fishing pressure made it verydifficult for recreational fishers to find keeper fluke, increasingthe number of undersized fluke that were released, thereforeincreasing the recreational “harvest” due to discard mortality.

(READ THE ABOVE TWO PARAGRAPHSAGAIN...SLOWLY. LET IT SINK IN. HOW IT HAPPENED.)

What’s worse is that this same scenario is about to play outin many other fisheries including black sea bass, scup, cod,bluefish, and others. In my opinion this is NOT good fisheriesmanagement.

SO WHAT’S THE ANSWER?• Is there a major bias in the new improved MRIP?

Those responding to MRIP may not be representative ofthe average fisher. Surveys may over-sample more avid anglerswho spend significantly more time fishing, leading to anoverestimate of fishing effort. This would lead to an

overestimate of recreational catch.• Are we missing some important changes that are occurringin recreational fishing?

With new fishing “apps” and improved electronicsrecreational fishers may be more successful catching fish eventhough the stock of fish is decreasing, not increasing.

Recreational fishers may be traveling further and faster sothey can better locate and catch fish even though fish stocksare decreasing.

Fishing clubs like RISAA may be helping fishers improveso that they are more successful catching even though the stocksare lower.• Should we respond differently to the new data?

Even if fish stocks are increasing (this author doesn’t believethis to be the case) it might make more sense to allow forbiomass growth rather than greater commercial harvest.Especially for species such as fluke, recreational fishing willgreatly benefit from increased fish stocks therefore allowingmore people to be successful on their day on the water.• Does it really make sense to split the catch betweencommercial and recreational fishing based solely onmeasured commercial landings and estimates of fishharvested recreationally?

I have long been an advocate for management of commercialfishing by regulating pounds of harvest to assure proper stockstatus while setting reasonable and consistent recreationalseasons, minimum sizes, and bag limits such that fish stocksare not negatively impacted. In other words, don’t managerecreational fishing based on estimates of pounds harvested.

This is an important issue facing recreational fishers today.We need recreational fishers to be involved NOW because ifleft to the regional councils, which are largely controlled bycommercial fishing interests, this situation may result in muchgreater commercial harvest of all of the species that areimportant to recreational anglers.

The horrible thing about this is that it is specifically becausethese species are recreationally important and therefore a bigpart of the new MRIP that the commercial harvest will beallowed to increase.

There is nothing simple about resolving this problem, butwe must stop bad management decisions ASAP. We can’t affordto repeat the loss of winter flounder and squeteague in our baysor the loss of pollack and mackerel at Block Island or the lossof cod near Cape Cod. I want my grandchildren to be able tocatch fish and enjoy the ocean like I have, but this looks likethe biggest catastrophe for recreational saltwater fishing that Ihave witnessed in the 20 plus years that I have been active inmonitoring fisheries management.

Please send me your thoughts about how we might respondto this situation at [email protected]

- 6 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Is the new “improved” MRIP on track to destroyrecreational saltwater fishing in America?

by Capt. Richard HittingerRISAA 1st Vice President

OPINION

- 7 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

350 Miles versus 39 Fishermenby TODD CORAYER

Max Appleman shook my hand pretty hard. We hadn’t metpreviously, but both recalled a Fish Wrap piece from last year inwhich readers were encouraged to contact him regarding apotential change in striper regulations. A similar Fish Wrappiece with his contact information was picked up by The PewCharitable Trust and widely distributed. His phone rang steadily

for three days. Fishermenunderstood the severity ofwhat his agency, the AtlanticStates Marine FisheriesCommission, was consideringand they offered comments. Itwas pretty clear he wasoverwhelmed withresponses.

Max was at URI onSeptember 24 for the publichearing regarding Addendum

VI and its impending changes to striped bass regulations.The ramifications of the proposals are significant. They will

affect Maryland to Maine. They may raise the minimum size ofa keeper bass to 35". They may introduce a slot limit. They maymandate circle hooks.

39 people made the time to attend.There were more people at the local McDonalds. Fishing mortality

rate is what theAddendum is designedto correct because thestriper stock hasexperienced lowrecruitment over thelast decade. 2012, 2014and 2016 were pretty strong years, but they weren’t enough. In2017, we removed 7.1 million from the stock. In 2018, 5.8 millionfish were removed including discards which die.

“About 90% of total removals is attributed to the recreationalsectors in the last few years,” Max said. Approximately nineout of ten stripers landed recreationally and released and 9% of

them are assumedto die after release.

Then Maxspoke of how we“interact” withstriped bass.

That’s a fine assessment of how we see that fishery and howmuch it means to us. It’s not just fishing, it’s interacting. Sowhy weren’t more fishermen there?

Peter Jenkins, Chair of the American Saltwater GuidesAssociation advocated for the 35" minimum size because hisgroup thought it was most important to protect the femalesnow. They’re worried long term conservation efforts may notbe realized. The Association wants us to not ignore history and

protect the largest breeders so he also calledfor the one fish at 18" for the Chesapeakesince that’s where the vast majority ofstripers spawn.

There was a wide variety of people in the room, includingcharter boat captains, recreational fishermen and fishing clubs.With the exception of one charter boat captain who raised validconcerns about inexperienced anglers being forced to use circlehooks, no one from the commercial fishing industry spoke.

Hooks cangenerate almost asmuch discussion asany other regulationchanges. Manyfishermen and womenwill tell you mandatinga particular hook canand will mean thedifference betweencatching and losing.

They’re great for some types of chunk bait, but they’re lousyfor soft sections, like the middle of a menhaden. There was talkof treble hooks. They’re pretty destructive to fish and while noton the official document, it’s something to think about when wespend winter nights hugging a glass of something brown andswapping out old mono and rusty hooks. Properly rigged singlehooks can be just as effective with less damage to the fish andtherefore, less mortality.

“We believe that circle hooks are important when baitfishing, but mandating use would be unenforceable,” said SteveMedeiros of the R.I. Saltwater Anglers Association, supportingOption C under 3.2. They also supported Sub Option 2-A3: onefish at a 32 to 40-inch slot limit and for the Chesapeake Bayfisheries, Sub Option 2-B1: one fish at an 18” minimum.

Greg Vespe of the Aquidneck Island Striper Team agreedwith RISAA then asked for future discussions about a trophytag and more enforcement.

Mike Laptew spoke of his history with fish and the needmore law enforcement. “…The year class we all hung our hatson,” he said, referencing Virginia’s over-harvest that largelyimploded an entire year’s worth of fishing. That kind of languagejust shows how much we value stripers. It was good to hearmany voices supporting law enforcement, except it wasn’t onthe agenda and those comments need to go directly to ourlegislators.

Last year you rang Max Appleman’s phone off the hook;how about making some local calls and get real support behindRIDEM Law Enforcement.

We don’t want a moratorium. We want togo fishing and catch striped bass, but ArchieBunkering some commentary at a screendoesn’t make change.

(to page 32)

Max Appleman explains theregulatory process

Last year our oceans absorbed 93 percent of the heat ourcarbon emissions trapped in the atmosphere. The ocean wouldnever release all this retained heat at once, but if the heat storedin the world’s oceans since 1955 was instantly transferred,NOAA relates the atmosphere would warm by 65° F.

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 90 percent of allthe global oceans. This year, even though we had coolertemperatures, we were still above normal in the Gulf of Maine.

Vincent Saba, a top climatologist andresearch fishery biologist from NOAA’sNortheast Fisheries Science Center, said,“We believe that the Gulf Stream hasshifted north and the Labrador Current (acold current in the North Atlantic Oceanthat flows south along the coast ofLabrador) is receding north. This in part

is why the Gulf ofMaine is so warm.”

Dr. Andrew Pershing, chiefscientific officer for the Gulf of MaineResearch Institute, said in a September19, 2019 article, “July 2019 was thewarmest July ever recorded in theNortheast and over much of the planet.”

Rhode Island a top warming stateIn an August 13, 2019 Washington Post article “2°C:

BEYOND THE LIMIT…Extreme climate change has arrivedin America,” Rhode Island is noted as the first state in the lower48 whose average temperature rise has eclipsed 2 degreesCentigrade (or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Alaska is actually thefastest warming state.

The Washington Post said, “In the past century, the Earthhas warmed 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. But that’s just an average.Some parts of the globe — including the mountains of Romaniaand the steppes of Mongolia — have registered increases twiceas large.”

Warm “blob” on the West CoastIn September 2019, NOAA Fisheries reported on a new

marine heat wave emerging on the West Coast that resembles awarm water “blob” that visited the coast in 2014. In some placesthe water is five degrees warmer than normal.

During the last “blob,” warmer conditions left lesser-qualityfood available to young salmon entering the ocean. It alsoshifted predator distributions in ways that contributed to lowreturns of salmon. NOAA Fisheries said on its website thatother impacts included:

• The largest harmful algal bloom recorded on the WestCoast, which shut down crabbing and clamming for months;

• Thousands of young California sea lions stranded onbeaches; and

• Multiple declared fishery disasters.Next steps for climate change science

Dr. Jonathan Hare, NOAA’s NortheastScience Center Director, said, “I was happyto hear states are using our climate changeresearch to influence policy making. Thefocus of the Northeast Science Centermoving forward is to help the people thatmake the fisheries decisions and the peopleimpacted by them (the fishermen). This isout of my comfort zone but this is wherewe are headed.”

Vincent Saba, NOAA’s top climate scientists said, “Weare now looking at more than warming water. Acidification aswell as sea level rise is part of climate change impacts too. Forexample, ocean acidification has impacted the lobster andscallop fisheries in our region.”

The Lenfest Ocean Program is a grant-making program thatidentifies, supports and communicates marine science thatconcerns threats to the world’s oceans. Each year they awardabout $3 million for climate, ecosystem and wildlife research.

From October 21 to 23, 2019 Lenfest will conduct its“Lenfest Idea Lab” with the goal of identifying the type ofclimate change research needed moving forward. The idea isto help fishermen and fishery managers understand how to workwith climate change.

Thirty of the nation’s top climate scientists and fishingindustry leaders will help Lenfest frame criteria for futureLenfest Ocean Program climate change research projects.

Charlotte Hudson, director of the Lenfest Ocean Programsaid, “Our goal is to identify what information gaps are thereand put science into hands of fishermen and fishery managersfor use. Moving forward we need to look at warming water,rising water and acidification… the total changes that areoccurring in water chemistry. For example, today oceanacidification has a major impact on the aquaculture industryon the West Coast.”

Scientists are doing what they can to help all of us who relyon ocean resources navigate the new and changing waters ofclimate change.

IMPACTS ON FISHERMENCoastal dwellers and fishermen are feeling the impacts of

rising water, warming water and fish movement. In theNortheast, cold-water fish have moved north and east out todeeper, cooler water. Species such as American lobster andwinter flounder are no longer commonly found in SouthernNew England in abundance. (to page 13)

- 8 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Feeling Climate Change in U.S. Waters

Helping Fisheries Managers andFishermen Cope with Climate Change

by CAPTAIN DAVE MONTI

JonathanHare

Vincent Saba

Andrew Pershing

A year or two ago, I was picking up a few things in a localtackle shop when a fellow South Shore Marlin and Tuna Clubmember walked in. We talked for a couple of minutes aboutvarious things, and then he commented that “I never thoughtI’d ever say this, but I think they’re going to have to start doingsomething about bluefish. There are none around.”

There is already a bluefish management plan, of course, butits provisions are extremely lax: No size limit, no season, and a15-fish recreational bag. And if anglers aren’t expected to catchtheir entire quota, some portion of that quota can be, and oftenis, transferred to the commercial sector.

Over the past few years, anglers throughout much of thenortheast and mid-Atlantic have noted that bluefish have beenhard to come by. There are pockets of abundance, and timeswhen fishing is hot, but in most places, at most times, the fishhave been hard to come by.

That scarcity was underlined this summer, when some folksthat I know out in Montauk were protecting the “secret” spotwhere they were able to reliably find some big blues, when therest of the ocean was barren.

A midsummer bluefish drought at Montauk is a good signthat something is very wrong.

Now, a peer-reviewed operational stock assessment hasconfirmed that there is a problem. It informs us that

“The bluefish stock was overfished and overfishing wasnot occurring in 2018 relative to the updated biological referencepoints. Spawning stock biomass (SSB) was estimated to be91,041 [metric tons] in 2018, about 46% of the updated biomasstarget reference point SSB

MSY proxy=SSB

35%=198,717 [metric

tons], and 92% of the SSBthreshold

=99,359 [metric tons]…Fishingmortality on the fully selected age 2 fish was 0.146 in 2018, 80%of the updated fishing mortality threshold reference point F

MSY

proxy=F35%

=0.183…Recruitment over the last decade has beenbelow the time series average [of 46 million age 0 fish], exceptfor 2013 where recruitment was 48 million fish. [emphasis added,internal references deleted]”

The question is, what happens next?(to page 34)

Bluefish Overfished:Management Changes Ahead

- 9 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

by CHARLES WITEK

OPINION

Nominations ClosedThe nominations for the elections of 2020 Officers and Board

Members has closed as of October 15, 2019. As of that date, nomembers came forwarded seeking election, so the proposedslate by the Board of Directors shall become elected at theAnnual Meeting On December 20, 2019 as follows:

President...1st Vice President...

2nd Vice President...Secretary...Treasurer...

Sergeant-At-Arms...

Board Member...Board Member...Board Member...Board Member...Board Member...Board Member...

Stephen J. MedeirosRichard C. HittingerDavid P. MontiSusan A. LemaPeter R. O'BisoDavid A. Michel

Lawrence W. HillGary W. JohnsonDouglas A. MacPhersonRobert S. MurrayRoger O. TelierDawn E. Filliatreault Wood

If any member has any questions, I can be reached by emailat [email protected] or by phone at 401-766-8409.

• Striped Bass Myco Research• Tag & Release Program• Tag-A-Giant Tuna Foundation• Ten Mile River fish ladders• Woonasquatucket River fish laddersRISAA/RIDEM Adopt-A-Ramp SignsTake-A-Kid Fishing Days 1998-2019Youth Fishing Camps 2016-2019

The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Foundation

- 10 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Name: ______________________________________________________ Phone: _____________________

Enclosed is cash or check for: $5 $10 $25 $50 $100 other______

Mail to: RISA Foundation, P.O. Box 1465, Coventry, RI 02816Any donation over $10 will be sent a receipt that proves your contribution for tax purposes

Please print:

The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, created to provide an educational and public service forum forrecreational saltwater anglers and the general community; to foster sportsmanship; to support marine conservation and the sound management of fisheriesresources.

Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution to

PREVIOUS AND CONTINUALLY SUPPORTED PROGRAMS• Blackstone River fish ladders construction• College Scholarships in Marine Sciences• Kickemuit River fish ladder construction• Mercury in Local Fish Research Grant• Narragansett Bay Journal publication• Newport fishermen’s ladder repairs• Ninigret Park Fishing Access• Pawtuxet River fish passage

• Public access adoption programs• Public education programs and seminars• Recreational Fishing Symposium 2013,2015,2018• Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation• Sabin Point Artificial Reef (upper Narra. Bay)• Saugatucket River fish passage, Westerly• Sea Grant research programs• Special Shore Fishing Scup signs for RIDEM

COPPER (up to $49)

SILVER ($100+)

It is OK to print my name Do NOT print my name Donation made in the name of: _____________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________________no. street city state zip

�

David GreenGiacomo GuarnacciaF. Charles HaighDouglas JostVincent Lechmanick

2019 FOUNDATION DONORSBen AcetoHerb AdamsAllstateAlfred AmaralJames BabbittBrian BeltramiRene BlanchetteJohn BoardmanPaul BoutietteHoward Bristow

Michael BuckoJustin CardonesDaniel daSilveiraEdward DesrosiersWade DiehlRobert DonaldJeffrey DufficyAdam DunstanJoseph EbertTimothy Fleming

PLATINUM ($500+)

BRONZE ($50+)Helder BatistaRick BlackRobert BlasiDickson BoenningJoan BradburyJohn CappelliAnthony Caruolo

AmazonSmileAndrew BergLawrence AudinoMel BlakeRobert BrazilGerard Brien

Bentley FoundationRobert DonaldsonGino DeFeudis

Dan/Nicole CostaRichard FalconeSandra GelineauJeffrey GendronTimothy GilchristDavid GreenRichard Heffernan

Norman BuecherPaul ChmuraEdward ChoiniereStuart CohenKenneth CooperDavid Gentes

IN MEMORY OFGeorge AllenBob Anderson

Dave HellnerHarold HembergerPeter HendricksDaniel KingRev. Jan Knost

Jonathan LewieStephen MedeirosR.I.M.S.Robert MurgoPeter O’Biso

Jerry FinkleWalter GallowayLeon GomlinskiDonald GoodroeRobert GraapJohn GraydonDale HartmanRobert HojnoskiF. Dean Hoxsie

Capt. Sandy KaneFred Kolling, IIIDavid Pollack

Mark PachicoJohn PeacockLuca RazzaEdward SavinoJohn SilvaCapt.Skip Stritzinger

Russell HubertBarbara KennedyEdward KrupinskiRichard LaurieJulie/Bob LeBlancSteven LeusnerRonald MarafiotiTom MeadeJohn Mello

James LiddellBenjamin LendaRaymond MarchakWilliam McCuskerJames McKeough

John MeyerLarry MouradjianJon NobletBob OnoskoMark PachicoJan PrzezdzieckiJohn Reid, Jr.

Daniel MilkoJames ParilloHerve PellandJeffrey PerryJohn PopeSalvatore RomanoBrian QuenstedtJustin SerbentRandall ShermanPaul Smith

Charles BradburyGeorge KammererWalter Krupinski

Anthony Rocha,MDSaid, Sameh, MDWayne SargoStephen SkenyonWilliam SosnickiEdward Skwirz

William SokolowskiDouglas SturgisThomas TenBroeckMichael TrippMichael VandalPhyllis VivariDaniel WatsonRonald WilsonWarren WrightJames Zito

Harry TempletonMichael TestaJohn TreatPatrick WatsonJohn WebberWilliam Zanks

Robert SangsterNathan TellierBrad/Nadia Waugh

- 11 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Camp Street Community Ministries

The RISAA Charities Committee exists to lend a helping hand to others in need,and is a way of giving back to our community.

When I first moved to the East Side of Providence in 1995,my driving route home took me past a store front that lookedlike an old school soup line. On certain days there would befolks lined up to look through racks of used clothing. Little didI know that it was Camp Street Community Ministries (CSCM).

Founded by Mamie Catlin in 1985 as an emergency foodpantry in her neighborhood, CSCM later ledto food, clothing and housewares for peoplein the neighborhood, and provided for literallytens of thousands over three decades.Residents of the Mount Hope section andpeople throughout Providence who were inneed of food or clothing knew the impact ofMamie Catlin. She died in 2015.

Catlin efforts, that started small with her vision of CSCM,has grown into a place that gives neighbors more than justweekly rations of food and clothing. It is now a place wherethe act of giving, above all, matters most.

CSCM has assisted thousands of people in the Providencecommunity and it was her vision that God gave Mrs. Catlinwith a Matthew 25 mandate to “clothe, feed and help the brokenhearted and heal the sick.”

Today, CSCM offers much more than just food and clothingto those in need. CSCM services over 1,000 clients whoseneeds vary from a simple lunch sandwich to those who mightneed help looking for a job.

CSCM is proud of it’s Social Services department whichhouses a library, computer room and resource center designedto teach jub skills, technical skills and a place for kids to use a

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTION

computer and play games.They also offer free counselling services to those in need

and you can often find a counselor working with a client in oneof the centers many different rooms at its facility.

Camp Street Community Ministries has over 50 volunteersand a staff of 5. They hand out over 1,000 lbs. of groceries aweek and over 300 ready-to-eat meals a week as well. That’s along way from free sandwiches and a place to socialize andmeet friends.

When I drive by today I notice that they have taken overthe threee m p t ys t o r e f r o n t sthat areadjacent totheir originallocation on Camp Street as well.

Camp Street Community Ministries is located at194 Camp Street, Providence, RI 02906

and can be reached at 401-421-5474.They don’t have a web site, but they do have a Faceook page:www.facebook.com/pages/Camp-Street-Community-Ministries

AUTHORS NOTE: Members of the organization asked not tobe recognized in this article. They feel that it is their communaland religious obligation to maintain the vision that MamieCatlin started, and that personal recognition detracts fromthe spirit of that mission.

Report byJEFF

INGBER

Mamie Catlin

- 12 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Field Markings: All white feathers on the body, red-organge billwith a black knob at the base, black legs and feet. Female isslightly smaller than male and has a smaller black knob on the billSize: 60 inches long, with a wingspan of 60-plus inchesHabitat: Fresh and saltwater ponds, coastal marshes, coves onthe Bay in winterSeasonal Appearance: Year-round

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES ANDBEHAVIORS

The mute swan is a large, white bird common in both the saltand fresh waters of Rhode Island. They are not mute as thename implies; rather, they make hissing sounds while guardingterritory. With its bill pointed down when swimming, the swan’slong neck forms a distinctive “S” shape, make it easy to identifythem from a distance.

Mute swans fly with their necks extended, and the stifffeathers of their wings create aswooshing noise that can be heardup to a half mile away. Due to theirweight, they require a long runwayto become airborne.

Mute swans feed on pond weed,microalgae and aquaticinvertebrates. They graze on saltmarsh grasses and in the late fall andwinter will uproot the plants andfeed on the roots. Swans can

consume eight pounds or more of vegetation per day. They feed

like dabbling ducks, tipping forward and extending their longnecks into the water. They have small toothless edges on theinside of their bills to grasp vegetation.

Mute swans pair up for life when they are three to four yearsold. Both the male and female build nests in marshes, brackishponds or shallow water out of cattails, cordgrasses andPhragmites. Males are territorial, often going to great lengths todefend their nests aggressively. Swans often swim with theirheads back and wings arched.

This behavior, called “busking,” is an aggressive display todefend territory. During the first year of life, the gray, immatureswans, or cygnets, can be seen following the adults in closeproximity.

RELATIONSHIP TO PEOPLEMute swans are not native to North America. They were

imported from Europe to the New York City area in the late 1800sfor their beauty. The introduced population increased in theearly 1900s when escapees began to breed in the wild. The firstswans in Rhode Island were seen in Quonochontaug Pond,Charlestown, in 1938.

Swans have large breeding territories and aggressively driveoff native birds from their nesting habitat, often altering thediversity of birds in an area and affecting nesting success. Inareas where swans gather in large numbers, they can degradewater quality through intensive feeding and high-nutrient waste.Since the first nesting in 1948, the number of mute swans hasbeen on the rise despite efforts to control populations including“addling,” or shaking the eggs.

Mute SwanScientific Name: Cygnus olor

And warm water fish such as blacksea bass, scup and summer flounder aremore abundant than ever before.

Warm water is impacting thecharter fishing industry. I, for one, amthankful to the black sea bass; they arein Rhode Island waters in abundanceand have saved many a charter for me.We even have a charter captain or tworunning wahoo trips out of RhodeIsland, and my colleagues in Marylandare now running tarpon trips (that’s 50to 100 pound tarpon). Changes like thisare shuffling the fish species deck upand down the East Coast.

In 2016, a definitive study on climate change impacts on 82fish and invertebrate species in the Northeast was published byDr. Jonathan Hare, now science and research director ofNOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The study usedquantitative approaches that were developed to examine climateimpacts on productivity, abundance, and distribution of variousmarine fish and invertebrate species. The study identified whatspecies would be winners and which ones would be losers inthe Northeast as the water continues to warm.

Jason McNamee, Chief of Marine Resources for the stateof Rhode Island said, “We use Dr. Hare’s study to strategicallythink about changing fish in our area and to plan on how tomitigate some of the impact of climate change on fish andfishermen.”

Dr. McNamee said, “Dramaticchanges have occurred with iconicspecies such as the American lobsterand winter flounder. They are gone forthe most part and not coming intoNarraganset Bay any more. Yet wehave some winners too. In RhodeIsland we have a greater abundance ofsquid, scup, and black sea bass, whichprovide new opportunities for both recreational and commercialfishing.”

Loss of habitat and changing habitat is occurring too, whichhas impacted the state’s efforts. “For example the state investeda lot of resources, a lot of effort toclean Narragansett Bay and improvewater quality. We should be benefitingfrom the progress we made inreducing nutrients. We should have anabundance of winter flounder forexample; however, temperaturesrising have thrown us off course.”

A warm water exotic species thatthe state is planning for is cobia.Anglers are catching them at anincreasing rate, so much so thatMcNamee said, “We are starting toexplore getting a fishing regulation onthe books for cobia, so we can plan

for them in a sustainable way as anglerscatch more and more of them.”

Anotherexample ofw a r m i n gw a t e ri m p a c t i n gr e g i o n a lfishing isgroundfish,such asyellow tailand winterf l o u n d e r ,

which are being replaced with squid.McNamee said, “Some fishermen andboat owners moved from groundfishto fishing for squid, as they were andare abundant in our area. If fishermenthink too linear we will not be able to make changes like this asclimate change and warming water accelerates and fishabundance changes. We (as fishermen and fishery managers)need to be flexible enough to take advantage of changes.”

FISHERMEN’S PERSPECTIVESRichard Hittinger, 1st Vice

President of the Rhode Island SaltwaterAnglers Association, said, “Many of thechanges in fish that we see in localwaters are likely due in some part torising water temperatures. When Istarted fishing regularly in the 1970s, wecaught pollack at Block Island, cod allaround the island, winter flounder in allof the bays; but most of these fish aregone now. On the other hand we didn’t see many black seabass and not nearly as many fluke as we have now. I thinkclimate change has a lot to do with all of this.” (to page 32)

- 13 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

FISHERIES CLIMATE CHANGE (from page 8)

Warm Water FishGreg Vespe caught this cobia, anexotic warm water fish, off GouldIsland, RI when fishing for stripedbass with a chunk of menhaden asbait.

Jason McNamee

Chris Brown, comm-ercial fisherman andpresident of SeafoodHarvesters of Americanotes that black seabass are abundant inthe Northeast due towarming water.

Captains DelFusco and Springle of East CoastCharters with a wahoo they caught in warm

August water off Rhode Island

Rich Hittinger

Black sea bass running large andstrong like this one caught by KevinFetzer on a ledge in 65 feet of watersouth of the Sakonnet River.

- 14 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Reef Balls Installed in Upper Narragansett Bay

On October 24, a barge arrived at Sabin Point, EastProvidence with 64 concrete & silica reef balls, and began theprocess of carefully lowering and placing them on the bottomto create the first artificial reef of this kind in Narragansett Bay.

T h eproject washeaded byThe NatureConservancyR h o d eI s l a n d ,partnered byR I D E MDivision ofM a r i n eFisheries.

The RISAA Foundation provided at $15,000 grant towardsthe project.

The resulting colonization of on the reef balls by algae,barnacles, bivalves, sponges, and anemone species willprovide food and enhance habitat for fish species, eventually

Artificial reef provide new fishing opportunities for recreational anglersproviding an increase in fish abundance and improve therecreational fishing experience at the Sabin Point Park’s publicfishing pier.

RISAA hopes that the success of this reef will lead to moresimilar projects bringing artificial bottom structure to areas ofthe Bay which currently have none.

Reef balls were carefully lowered, 8 at at time, andplaced in exact pre-approved locations.

The reef location will be in eash castingdistance of the public fishing pier

RIDEM Enforcement Continues To Arrest PoachersOn October 24Environmental PoliceOfficers from DEM’sDivision of LawEnforcement conducted arecreational boarding on apoacher well known toofficers. The poacher andhis crew were found inpossession of 46 tautog,41 of which wereundersized. The poacherwas charged with theviolations and the seizedfish were donated to theAmos House inProvidence.

On October 20,Environmental PoliceOfficers received a tipthat a market inProvidence wasselling undersizedtautog. Officersquickly responded tothe market, seized thefish and charted themarket’s owner withthe violation.

The seized fishwere donated toAmos House inProvidence.

• Corleto, Ana, 49, Newport, RI: possession ofundersized blue crabs

• Do, Duc, 38, Chelsea, MA: possession of undersizedtautog, exceeding the daily limit of tautog and possessionof undersized black sea bass

• Estrela, Jose, 62, East Providence, RI: possession ofundersized black sea bass

• Feleja, Eugenio, 49, East Providence, RI: possessionof undersized tautog, exceeding the daily limit of tautogand possession of undersized black sea bass

• Guaman, Manuel, 31, Milford, MA: possession ofundersized striped bass and exceeding the daily limit ofstriped bass

• Hayes, Jason, 48, Taunton, MA: operating awatercraft while intoxicated and refusing to submit achemical test

• Ke, Jimmy, 34, Lowell, MA: possession of undersizedsummer flounder

• Lantigua, Raisa, 49, Providence, RI: possession ofundersized striped bass

• Martinez-Vazquez, Gilberto, 38, Worcester, MA:possession of undersize striped bass and exceeding thedaily limit of striped bass

• Menjivar-Lopez, Carlos, 32, North Providence, RI:possession of undersized striped bass and exceeding thedaily limit of striped bass

• Monteforte, Michael, 50, Kenyon, RI: exceedingthe daily limit of summer flounder

• Nguyen, Hung, 45, Methuen, MA: possession ofundersized tautog and exceeding the daily limit of tautog

• Nuguyen, Tuan, 44, Worcester, MA: not removingpectoral fin on striped bass.

• Saengaloun, Phouva, 75, Providence, RI: possessionof undersized striped bass and exceeding the daily limitof striped bass

• Silva, Maria, 67, Fall River, MA: possession ofundersize tautog

• Tacuri, Jose, 31, Milford, MA: possession ofundersized striped bass and exceeding the daily limit ofstriped bass

• Toribio, Ramon, 53, Providence, RI: possession ofundersized striped bass

• Tran, Danny, 64, Bellingham, MA: not removingpectoral fin on striped bass and exceeding the daily limitof striped bass

- 15 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

RECENT ARREST AND CITATIONS: SEPTEMBER, 2019

Charged Criminally in Rhode Island District or Superior CourtName, age, residence, charges

CITATIONS: Charged with civil violations in Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal

Boating Violations

Violation Citations Issued

8

0CRMC Beach Violations

Motor Vehicle 1

SALTWATER FISHING VIOLATIONS

Violation Citations Issued

7

0Freshwater Fishing Violations

State Property Violations(alcohol, disorderly, parking, dumping, etc. 27

RISAA’s Surfcasters Committee held the annual FallChallenge over the weekend of October 18, 19 and 20. It is atournament that pits the surf fishing clubs from Rhode Island,Connecticut and Massachusetts against one another. It is aneasy and fun format that lets each club fish together as a team ifthey wish or lets any angler to fish where he or she chooses.

The fall contest is traditionally a South County event with afishing range between the mouth of the Narrow River inNarragansett and Napatree Point in Westerly. It’s also a greatcomplement to our June Spring Challenge. In effect, we targetstriped bass coming and going on both ends of their migrationup and down the Striper Coast.

This autumn’s event marks the 26th year it is held. Some ofthe participating clubs date back many years and many of thefishermen have been competing against one another for decades,so you can imagine the camaraderie and history these clubsshare.

It should be noted that the Pioneer Valley club entrustedRISAA with running this tournament last year, its 25th

anniversary. Seven clubs participated this year:Hartford Surf Fishing Club

Massachusetts Striped Bass AssociationNarragansett Surfcasters • Pioneer Valley Boat & Surf

Rhode Island Mobile SportfishermenRISAA • Weekapaug Surfcasters

We wrap up the Challenge on Sunday at the Andrea BeachBar in Misquamicut with a hearty Fisherman’s Breakfast andawards ceremony. And what a wrap up it was! We had no lessthan seventy people attend the event in the surfside tent wherethe waves crash right at your feet.

The raffle table was fully populated with everything you’dever want to surf fish with: custom plugs and bucktails, hand-poured jigs,pliers, filetknives, a fishingreel, and even ah o m e m a d ec h e e s e c a k e .That’s right, ac h e r r yc h e e s e c a k ebaked byKathleen Aspinall of Connecticut. How can you beat that?Not even RISAA’s monthly raffles can tempt you with acheesecake!

Of special note was the case of High Hook wine donated byFish Hook Vineyards of Oregon. Very apropos too as theterm High Hook is the honor bestowed on the person catching

the largest striped bass!Joe Coppola, Dick Cournoyer, and Richie Reich could

barely keep up with the demand for raffle tickets, let alonehave time to enjoy breakfast. And when Joe announced “last

call” for tickets, you’d think it wasclosing time at the local tavern!

And that’s when we ran out oftickets! No kidding. Not to bedeterred, we dipped into our stash- hidden in a crab pail - and savedthe day and no one missed out onnabbing their tickets.

Then it was up to Joe to call outalmost a hundred ticket numbers.Luckily the raffle table gave outbefore Joe’s voice did and everyoneseemed satisfied with the results. Iknow we are since we collected justshy of one thousand dollars fromthe ticket sales.

The Surf Challenges are so much more than a fishing eventswith some of the best surf fishers around, they are charity events.This means that all proceeds from the raffle and the club entryfees go to charity and this year we will donate almost $1,500 toThe Galilee Mission of Narragansett.

Back to fishing. While everyone else was swapping fishstories and digging into plates of bacon and eggs, RISAAmember Paul Phillips was busy tallying the weigh slips. Duringthat time, thereports from theclubs was thatevery teamfished hard andlong and forsome, deep intothe night. But tono avail as not asingle anglerwas able to landa bass that metthe 36"minimum length. That left the team title up to the bluefish soto speak. The Rhode Island Mobile Sportfishermen defendedtheir title with the three largest bluefish. Way to go RIMS!Jeff Rogala of the Hartford Surf Fishing Club won the “LargestBluefish” award and took home a nice gift certificate for hisefforts that was ironically donated by RIMS!

(to page 33)

- 16 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Fall Surf Fishing Club Challenge

RIMS Team with Team Trophy

Joe Coppola had tocall out nearly 100raffle winningnumbers

YEARLONG TOURNAMENT STILRUNNING UNTIL DECEMBER 13

The Special Tournament season may have ended, but theYearlong Tournament is still going on and runs throughDecember 15, 2019.

Many species, including cod, black sea bass and tautog arestill plentiful. The black sea bass and tautog season in RhodeIsland runs to December 31.

While it’s not the same every year, the past few years haveseen many migrating schools of quality striped bass passingvery close to our shore well into December.

Check the current Yearlong Tournament standings onlinehttp://risaa.org/tournaments/2019_yearlong.html

TOURNAMENTS COMMITTEEANNUAL MEETING

The Tournaments Committee will have it’s Annual Meetingvery soon. This will be the time when we paln for the 2020

tournament season and set up the Special Tournaments.Rule changes will also be discussed along with a few issues

that came up during the 2019 season. Many members havevolunteered their thoughts during the past season.

JOIN THE TOURNAMENTS COMMITTEEAll RISAA members are welcome to join the Tournaments

Committee. This is a great way to get involved in YOUR club.We usually only meet once each Fall and conduct any otherbusiness during the year by email.

If you’re interested, please send an email [email protected] for more information.

- 17 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Special Tournaments done, but still time to fish!

Boat Division

Shore Division

JUNIOR1st...Stephen Skenyon: 15.542nd..Roman Dudus: 13.553rd...David Miele: 13.05

ADULT1st...no entry2nd..no entry3rd...no entry

1st..Nick Sannicandro: 14.732nd..Brian Ernest: 7.163rd...Thomas McGuire: 2.60

1st...no entry2nd...no entry3rd...no entry

ADULT JUNIOR

BLUEFISH SPECIAL TOURNAMENT • Sept 27-Oct 6

Congratulations to the winners of the pasttwo Special Tournaments

Boat Division

Shore Division

JUNIOR1st...Donald Smith: 9.462nd..Robert Coupe: 9.013rd...Richard Reich: 8.30

ADULT1st...Nicholas Duda: 3.002nd..no entry3rd...no entry

1st..Normand Morrissette: 8.562nd..Thomas McGuire: 4.943rd...Nick Sannicandro: 2.88

1st...no entry2nd...no entry3rd...no entry

ADULT JUNIOR

TAUTOG SPECIAL TOURNAMENT • Oct 11 - 27

Member NORM MORRISSETTE displays 9.15 lbtautog that he caught on April 24 in the upper bay. He wasusing a green crab for bait. The fish is currently in 2nd Placein the Yearlong Tournament

Nature marches to the beat of its own drum. And fish bit when they’re ready, not before. An angler’s frustrationwill not foce a fish to bite. Nor will his worry.

Since once can’t hurry a fish, angling inevitably becomes a lesson in patience and persistence. One afisherman has done his best, the rest must be left up to the prey.

So remember: if the fish aren’t biting, let them not bite. But keep fishing. The next case may hook the big one.

PATIENCE: You Can’t Hurry A Fish

BOAT DIVISION ONLYADULT (federal min.)1. Cote Laflamme: 55.00 (yellowfin)2. none yet3. none yet

JUNIOR (federal min.)1. none yet2. none yet3. none yet

- 18 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

The Yearlong Tournament is a continuing tournament that runs from January 1 to December 15 each year. All RISAA members are eligibleto participate, and there are no fees. Official Weight Slips are available at each monthly meeting and at all sanctioned bait shops. Onlyauthorized weigh-in stations with certified digital scales may be used. A complete list of rules is printed on the back of every weight slip.

There are two categories: ADULT and JUNIOR member. There are also two divisions within each category: BOAT and SHORE.

BLACK SEA BASS

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 1 lb)1. Nick Sannicandro: 2.882. Norm Morrossette: 2.663. Edward Bogdan: 1.86JUNIOR (no minimum)1. none yet2. none yet3. none yet

BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 1 lb)1. Richard Hittinger: 5.322. Robert Murray: 4.883. Cote Laflamme: 4.60

JUNIOR (no minimum)1. Luke Lamson: 3.762. Flynn Jansen: 3.563. Nathaniel Pakuris: 3.44

BLUEFISH

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 8 lbs)1. Nick Sannicandro: 14.602. Michael Tilelli: 10.713. John Migliori: 10.64

JUNIOR (no minimum)1. Nathaniel Pakuris: 1.932. none yet3. none yet

BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 8 lbs)1. Thomas McGuire: 16.282. Stephen Skenyon: 15.963. Mark Pachico: 14.97

JUNIOR (no minimum)1. Nathaniel Pakuris: 10.642. Jonah Tracy: 4.203. none yet

BONITO

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 3 lbs)1. Andrew Smith: 8.202. Nick Sannicandro: 6.643. Thomas McGuire: 5.56

JUNIOR (no minimum)1. none yet2. none yet3. none yet

BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 3 lbs)1. David Garzoli: 3.552. none yet3. none yet


FALSE ALBACORE

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 5 lbs)1. Michael Tilelli: 9.002. Thomas McGuire: 7.783. Nick Sannicandro: 7.52


BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 5 lbs)1. Susan Lema: 8.942. none ye3. none yet


COD

BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 8 lbs)1. Paul Boutiette: 19.602. Nick Sannicandro: 5.903. none yet


HADDOCK

BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 3 lbs)1. none yet2. none yet3. none yet


MAHI MAHI

BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 6 lbs)1. Nick Sannicandro: 6.672. Cote Laflamme: 5.703. none yet


SCUP

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 1 lb)1. Nick Sannicandro: 2.392. Charles Underhill: 2.003. Edward Bogdan: 1.94


BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 1 lb)1. David Garzoli: 2.902. Robert Matteson: 2.552. Stephen Skenyon: 2.43JUNIOR (no minimum)1. Nick Duda: 1.381. Evan Duda: 1.38 tie2. Nathaniel Pakuris: 1.303. Cody Ackley: 1.08

STRIPED BASS

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 15 lbs)1. Thomas McGuire: 37.962. Richard Geldard: 31.903. William Hubert: 22.62


BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 15 lbs)1. Dariusz Kolodziejczak: 52.452. Greg Spier: 46.123. Mark Pachico: 45.62

JUNIOR (no minimum)1. Tucker Wells: 41.402. Nathaniel Pakuris: 26.823. John Oliveira: 11.00

Albacore, Bluefin (no giants), YellowfinFederal minimums apply • 1st, 2nd, 3rd each species

TUNA

POLLOCK

BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 5 lbs)1. none yet2. none yet3. none yett


FLUKE

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 2 lb)1. Michael Tilelli: 3.252. Charles Underhill: 2.803. Priscilla Bogdan: 2.40


BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 2.5 lbs)1. Hiran Haggett: 11.602. James Kaczynski: 11.183. KDonald Goebel: 10.85

JUNIOR (no minimum)1. Luke Lamson: 4.722. Nathaniel Pakuris: 2.643. none yet

TAUTOG

SHORE DIVISIONADULT (minimum 3 lbs)1. David Windoloski: 11.192. Norm Morrissette: 9.153. Thomas McGuire: 7.72


BOAT DIVISIONADULT (minimum 3 lbs)1. Nick Sannicandro: 13.882. Peter Lewis: 10.753. Paul Phillips: 9.96

JUNIOR (no minimum)1. Cody Ackley: 3.822. Nicholas Duda: 3.283. none yet

The RISAA Angler Hall Of Fame lists the largest tournament entry of each approved species.Any angler who enters a catch that surpases an Angler Hall Of Fame record shall, upon verification of the catch, become the new record

holder for that species. In addition, the angler shall receive 5 points toward Angler of the Year.

Black Sea BassBluefishBonito

CodFalse Albacore

FlukeHaddock

Mahi MahiPollockScupShad

SqueteagueStriped Bass

TautogTuna -AlbacoreTuna -Bluefin

Tuna -YellowfinWinter Flounder

7.2020.4612.2049.1016.2015.657.85

37.8027.703.743.80

10.5077.4018.9055.00

193.88112.00

4.40

Raymond MorroccoRobert Matteson

Michael NetoRobert Morel

Charles BradburyKyle Blount

Nicholas BlountJack Sprengel, Jr.Harry TempletonJack Sprengel, Jr.

Kyle PaparelliRobert RoyPeter Vican

Joseph BleczinskiHarley Benton

Jack Sprengel, Jr.Randy Pereschino

Michael Lanni

201220172004200120042006200420102001201420092006201120151999200920011998

Location AW Marina, (New London, CT)...................•Block Island Fishworks (New Harbor)......•Breachway Bait & Tackle (Charlestown,RI)..•Frances Fleet/Captains Catch (Galilee).....•Lucky Bait & Tackle* (Warren).................. Maridee Bait & Tackle................................•Pete’s Bait & Tackle (Woonsocket)...........•Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle (N.Kingstown).•Quonnie Bait & Tackle (Charlestown)......... Riverside Marine (Tiverton).......................... Sam’s Bait & Tckle (Middletown)..................•Snug Harbor Marina (Wakefield)................•Tackle Box, Inc. (Warwick)........................•Misquamicut Bait & Tackle (Westerly)........

Maximum60 lbs

200 lbs50 lbs

100 lbs200 lbs50 lbs

160 lbs60 lbs

100 lbs75 lbs

400 lbs250 lbs500 lbs100 lbs

• indicates RISAA member* note at bottom those marked

SHORE DIVISIONBOAT DIVISIONWEIGHT ANGLER YEARSPECIES SPECIES ANGLER YEARWEIGHT

3.8516.909.99

12.226.602.601.75

16.5451.6611.204.40

Black Sea BassBluefishBonito

False AlbacoreFlukeScupShad

SqueteagueStriped Bass

TautogWinter Flounder

Joseph PearsonGilbert Bell

Jack Sprengel, Jr.Jack Sprengel, Jr.

Michael TilelliCharles Underhill

Jonathan PickeringRobert MoellerRichard Reich

Richard GallipeauDick Geldard

20092016200720072018201220082007201320092009

* hanging scale not certified, but flat scale is good

- 19 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

UPCOMING SEMINAR

- 20 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Monday, November 25 at 7:00 PM

• Tossed salad w/roll: $3.50• Oven roasted pork loin, mashed potatoes, vegetable, and gravy: $7.95• Meatball parmesan sub w/chips: $6.95• Italian wedding soup (bowl): $3.95*Food NOT included in admission and is provided by the Elks.

Pay separately at buffet line.

FOOD WILL BE SERVED* BETWEEN 5:30 - 6:30TONIGHT'S MENU

Seminar is held at the West WarwickElks

60 Clyde Street, West Warwick, RI(directions of page 22)

Non-Members WelcomeNON-MEMBER ADMISSION: $10 donation

to RISAA's Scholarship Fund (RISAA members attend free)

EVERY MEMBER WHO ATTENDS IS ELIGIBLE TOWIN THE NIGHT'S FREE DOOR PRIZE:

A $200 Gift CertificateTo Any Member Tackle Shop

(see page 22)

BRING A FRIEND!RISAA members can bring a guest ONE TIMEto the meeting at no charge so they can see

what RISAA seminars are like

95

RHODE ISLAND COD FISHING

Cap. Rich Hittinger and Bob Murray

featuring

While Atlantic cod has mostly disappeared from George's Bank, there is a small, but goodcod fishery within a one hour boat ride from Pt Judith.

Rich and Bob are both RISAA Board Members, but are also hard-core fishermen and are usually on the water over 70days a year.

They have taken part in the local cod fishery with success and are willing to share basic information with memberswho want to get started fishing for cod in local waters.

They will discuss tips on tackle, jigs and baits and how you can find the locations and bottom structure that can holdcod.

UPCOMING SEMINAR

- 21 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

• Tossed salad w/roll: $3.50• Roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetable, and cranberry sauce: $8.50• Cheeseburger w/chips: $6.95

*Food NOT included in admission and is provided by the Elks.Pay separately at buffet line.

FOOD WILL BE SERVED* BETWEEN 5:30 - 6:30TONIGHT'S MENU

EVERY MEMBER WHO ATTENDS IS ELIGIBLE TOWIN THE NIGHT'S FREE DOOR PRIZE:

A $200 Gift CertificateTo Any Member Tackle Shop

(see page 22)

Seminar is held at the West WarwickElks

60 Clyde Street, West Warwick, RI(directions of page 23)

Non-Members WelcomeNON-MEMBER ADMISSION: $10 donation

to RISAA's Scholarship Fund (RISAA members attend free)

Monday, December 30 at 7:00 PM

featuring

5

2019 Fishing Season Review

Mark Pachico

This is a first time RISAA seminar to review the fishing season. A panel of seven members will discuss their experiencesduring each season, for various species and at various locations.

SO, HOW WAS FISHING....Spring • Summer • Fall?

Black sea bass • Bluefish • Cod • Summer flounder • Bonoto • False albacore • Striped bass • Tautog?In Narragansett Bay • Off Newport • Rhode Island South Shore • Block Island • Coxes Ledge

Herman Ho

Richard Reich Don Smith Capt. Eric Thomas

Fishes boat: Narragansett Bay,Newport and south of Sakonnet

Fishes all waters from the Bay toBlock to Coxes and offshore.

Fishes kayak & boat: upper Narra-gansett Bay & Cape Cod Canal

Fishes boat & shore:RI South Shore

Fishes boat: Narragansett Bay,Newport and south of Sakonnet

Todd CorayerFishes kayak, boat: NarragansettBay, RI South Shore, Block Island

Peter JenkinsFishes surf/boat: Fly/light tackle,

Newport, Bay, Block Island

R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019- 22 -

Directions toWest Warwick Elks

60 Clyde St., West Warwick, RI401-821-9807

FROM PROVIDENCE AND POINTS NORTH:(map 1) I-95 South to exit 12B (RI-113W/East Ave). PassR.I. Mall to light at Rt 2.(map 3) Straight across onto East Ave, then slight right toRiver St. to next light. Straight across onto Wakefield St.(map 4) Go 1.8 miles, then turn left onto Grandview Dr.Grandview Dr (.13 mi) becomes Clyde St. Elks is (.07 mi)on right.

FROM WESTERLY AND POINTS SOUTH:(map 2) I-95 North to exit 11 (left lane) onto I-295 North,then take Exit 1 from 295N onto East Ave (RI-113W).(map 3) Straight across onto East Ave, then slight right toRiver St. to next light. Straight across onto Wakefield St.(map 4) Go 1.8 miles, then turn left onto Grandview Dr.Grandview Dr (.13 mi) becomes Clyde St. Elks is (.07 mi)on right.

FROM NARRAGANSETT AND SOUTH COUNTY:Route 1 North to Route 4 North. Merge onto I-95 North.(map 2) I-95 North to exit 11 (left lane) onto I-295 North,then take Exit 1 from 295N onto East Ave (RI-113W).(map 3) Straight across onto East Ave, then slight right toRiver St. to next light. Straight across onto Wakefield St.(map 4) Go 1.8 miles, then turn left onto Grandview Dr.Grandview Dr (.13 mi) becomes Clyde St. Elks is (.07 mi)on right.

Exit 12B

FROM I-95NORTH TOEAST AVE

FROM I-95SOUTH TOI-295 and toEAST AVE

FROM EAST AVETO WAKEFIELD ST

WAKEFIELD ST TOELKS, 60 CLYDE ST

2

3

1

4

Google satellite view

R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019- 23 -

• Must be an adult/regular member in good standing • Must be present to win • RISAA Board members not eligible• Certificates must be redeemed within 90 days or is forfeited • Limited to one win per calendar year• May not be exchanged for cash • Entire amount must be redeemed at tackle shop

Pete’s Bait & TackleQuaker Lane Bait & TackleQuonnie Bait & Tackle

Block Island FishworksBreachway Bait & TackleLucky Bait & Tackle

*Chose from any of these member tackle shops:

Saltwater EdgeSnug Harbor MarinaThe Tackle Box

Rules:

Watch Hill OutfittersWeekapaug Bait & Tackle

It’s just another benefit of membership in the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association!

September Door Prize WinnersWinner of the REGULAR MEMBER door prize was

PHIL DUCKETTwho selected his $200 certificate to the Saltwater Edge

Winner of the JUNIOR MEMBER door prize was

CAEDEN BRENwho won three lures

- 24 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

PeriwinklesAbundant and

Tasty Snack

by GRACE KELLY

Why go to France for fancy escargot when the abundantlocal periwinkle beckons?

These common seaside snails are an invasive speciesoriginally from Europe. They spend their days on briny rockseating barnacle larvae and algae. While what few periwinklesthat are harvested locally are typically exported to Asia, youmay find them at Asian or Portuguese markets, or you canhead to any rocky beach and “pick-your-own.”

“I think they are really tasty. They have a sweet, brinyflavor I would compare to a steamer clam,” Kate Masury ofEating with the Ecosystem said.

Because of theirsmall size, shesuggested using themas a locally sourcedhors d’oeuvre.

“You won’ttypically fill up onperiwinkles, but theymake an excellentappetizer or snack, andcan add a nice flavor toother seafood dishes such as seafood stews and sauces,” shesaid.

While a more traditional preparation is given below, Masurymentions a unique interpretation that is also worth trying.

“At one of our dinners in 2017, chef Chris Kleyla from theStatesman Tavern in Bristol prepared them by marinating themand serving them on toast. It was absolutely delicious.”

Featured species: periwinkleFlavor: salty, sweetTexture: delicate, soft, creamySustainability level: These little snails aren’t commonly

consumed, so have at it.What to look for: If buying from a store, look for a market withcirculating water tanks, since this means they have lots of turnover and less chance of purchasing dead periwinkles. Whenyou’re sorting through your haul, smell can give away a deadperiwinkle, as can a poke to their operculum, the hatch thatcloses the shell. If they respond to a poke with a toothpick,they are alive. If they’re dead, the operculum is usually pulledup inside the shell. Discard dead periwinkles.

(Continue on Page 39 for Steamed Periwinkles recipe)

R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019- 25 -

Member Name(s): ___________________________________________________________ Phone: _____________________

Mailing Address:__________________________________________________________________________________________ Please send _____ tickets @ $25 each Enclosed is my check for $________ (payable to RISAA) Charge to my credit card: (check) AmEx Discover MasterCard Visa Amount: $_____________

Card Number: ______________________________________ Exp date (mo/yr): _____________ Name on card (print): _______________________________________________ Security #_________

Enclosed is my check for $________ (payable to RISAA)

RISAA's 22nd Annual Banquet • January 25, 2020. MAIL or ORDER BY PHONE 401-826-2121

/

Order Deadline: January 18, 2020 • Mail to RISAA, P.O. Box1465, Coventry, RI 02816

Will sit with anyone Prefer to sit with:_____________________________________________________

AssignedSeating

�

- 26 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Bristol Boat Ramp DockStorm Damage

Because of damage by a major storm that hit Rhode Islandin October, the dock at the Mount Hope Boat Ramp(Annawamscutt Drive) in Bristol, had to be removed.

“The damage was severe enough that the dock is unsafe,”said John Lake, of the Division of Marine Fisheries. “In orderto make repairs it will be removed now (end of October) andthen be reinstalled next spring.”

RISAA members who use this ramp to launch their boatsshould be aware there will be no dock for the rest of the 2019season.

On May 20 I was enthusiastic to attend the monthly RISAAseminar on fluke fishing, never knowing that I that night I wouldbe one of the lucky winners of a charter fishing trip with CaptainEric Thomas, Teezer 77 Guide Service. Member Celeste Ferendo-Canfield also won the trip.

At 6:30 AM, on the morning of Saturday, August 10, Celesteand I met at the Fort Adams, Newport, ramp for a half day ofsurface fishing around Newport on Captain Thomas’ perfectlyoutfitted 19-foot Mako center console powered by a 150 HPMercury OB.

Having never fished aroundNewport this was a real treat, asCaptain Thomas took us to abroad sampling of his hot spotsstarting at the red can onBrenton reef and then workingour way east behind themansions, First and SecondBeaches and around to theSakonnet River.

The water was moving andthere was a good amount ofsurface action for us to cast intowith light spinning tackle andsurface plugs. The equipment was top notch and Capt Thomas

has a passion for teachingwhich really helped me out.

The tide was incoming andCapt Thomas had uspositioned in a standing waveon the reef which, needless tosay, was pretty exciting andsomething I have neverexperienced before. Theamount of structure offNewport is unreal and it takesa pro to stay positioned in astanding wave and to get in tothe nooks and crannies wherethe fish hang out.

We took turns casting fromthe platform in the bow. It

didn’t matter as I was first on with a striper in the stern.Over the next hour or

two we were spottingintermittent surface activityand alternated hooking upwith a series of blues whichare a lot of fun on lighttackle.

Eventually the surfaceaction quieted down somidmorning we switched tobottom fishing. Weexplored the areas aroundSeal Rock, Spouting Rock,Gooseberry Island, SheepPen Rock, ending up at Flint Point and Church Point in theSakonnet River.

The black sea bass were plentiful, but mostly on the smallside. We did have one keeper for the fry pan.

A small craft advisory was forecast for the afternoon, so atmid-day we bolted back to Fort Adams against a stiff wind, andarrived back safely before the winds really picked up.

It is hard to imagine a more interesting and challenging placeto fish than the Newport coast. Captain Thomas has the experienceand knowledge to make it a safe, fun, and educational experience.We would recommend calling Captain Thomas for anyone lookingfor top action fishing off Newport.

TEEZER 77 GUIDE SERVICE • Capt. Eric Thomas

- 27 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

report by RICK TEREK

Capt. Eric, “Stop takingpictures and cast over there!”

Celeste and Captain Eric

Rick with first bluefish of theday

At 4:45 AM on themorning of September 12,2019 RISAA membersRobert Barrett, AugiePetrucci, Scott Morrison,Charles Vecoli, RandyZambrana, and I (RonShurilla) gathered in theparking lot of Pine IslandMarina, Groton, CT tomeet with Capt. SethMegargle for a fishing triptargeting striped bass.

The weather wasovercast, but a calm wind.A few of us mattled fog onthe way to the marina.

We boarded the Otter,a 30-foot Chris Craft withtwin Volvo diesels andplenty of room to relax and fish.

Captain Seth cast off at 5:15 AM and we were on our firstfishing spot at 6:05 AM.

We began by trolling wire with umbrella rigs on the businessend that were tipped with Ottertails and/or Gulp.

We used a jigging motion on the rod as we trolled rather thanjust towing the wire. In addition Capt Seth zig-zaged the boat tovary the depth of the lures.

The action started as soon as the wire went out and kept upfor 4 hours! Did I mention, so did the rain. It poured buckets andthere was not a dry angler on the boat.

During one of these downpoursChuck had to hold the rod for me atone point because the rain madeeverything so slippery that I could notreel and hold the rod from twisting atthe same time.

Biggest Fish Award went toRandy. Take a look at the photo (atleft) and realize this guy is 6 foot 4inches tall. We didn’t measure the fishbut it was awfully close to 50 inches.

Most Fish Award had to go to

Augie because everytime I looked he wasreeling in something andhe caught the onlybluefish of the day. Hedidn’t miss a singleopportunity to get inthat chair. Augies’ age is90 plus. What a stud!

Total catch for theday: 18 shorts, 9 keepers,1 bluefish and a numberof small fry the mate didnot bother to bring on tothe boat.

Some chartersare known as“fishing charters”but on this day wecalled it a“Catching” charter! Thank you CaptainSeth for what I will describe as THE BESTCHARTER EVER in my humble opinion.

CAPTAIN SETH SPORTFISHING • Capt. Seth Megargle

- 28 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

report by RON SHURILLA

Members (l-r) Chuck Vecoli, Ron Shurilla, Randy Zambrana, Augie Petrucci,Bob Barrett and Scott Morrison

When I went to school a long time ago, we had to get ourparent’s signature on the report card and return it to the teacher.Some terms, I wanted to forge the signature rather than face themusic at home. Other times, I tried to focus my parent’s reviewon the great grade I got in shop class in hopes of distractingthem from my math grade.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is luckythat no one has to sign its stock status report cards because theyhave been repeatedly flunking in two areas: the fish stocksmanaged exclusively by the New England Fishery ManagementCouncil and the highly migratory species managed by NMFSitself.

It’s time for NMFS tostop hiding its bad grades.

Progress, but notreally

Every year, NMFSsubmits a report toCongress on the status ofU.S. fisheries, highlightingthe agency’s progresstowards achieving thegoals of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that were established over40 years ago - produce optimum yield while preventingoverfishing. The Magnuson-Stevens Act, and specifically theconservation- and science-based management measurescontained in it, has helped the U.S. lead the world in sustainablefisheries management. And so, NMFS’s 2018 Status of theStocks Report has a lot of good news for most of the countryand the coastal economies that depend on healthy, sustainably-harvested seafood.

Chris Oliver, the head of NMFS and a consistentlysuccessful leader during his time running the North PacificFishery Management Council, reported with justifiable pridethat 91% of managed U.S. fish stocks are not subject tooverfishing and 82% are not overfished. Science-based andeffectively managed fisheries, he reported, generated more than$212 billion in sales and some 1.7 million jobs in recent years.Additionally, under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS hasrebuilt 45 stocks to healthy levels since 2000, one of whichwas even a New England Council-managed stock—the Gulf ofMaine smooth skate—rebuilt in nine years as a result of “strictmanagement.”

What Mr. Oliver fails to mention, even once, in his reviewof NMFS’s report card is the fact that NMFS continues to failin two areas: the New England Council-managed stocks andthe NMFS-managed stocks (note that NMFS has ultimateauthority over the New England Council-managed stocks).

The stocks managed by these two entities comprise 56% ofthe Nation’s remaining 43 overfished stocks and 50% of the 28stocks still subject to overfishing.

Of the overfished stocks that are still subject tooverfishing, New England Council- and NMFS-managedstocks comprise 82% of the total.

More than a decade ago, Congress ordered NMFS todevelop rebuilding plans for overfished stocks that immediatelystop overfishing. Five of New England’s stocks that are inrebuilding plans are still subject to overfishing. And Mr. Oliveralso fails to mention that many of these species, like Atlanticcod, have been in this overfished/overfishing status for decades.

The next closest council to New England’s record 15overfished stocks and 7 stocks subject to overfishing is the

South Atlantic Fishery ManagementCouncil with 5 overfished stocks and 6stocks subject to overfishing.

New England’s neighboringcouncil, the Mid-Atlantic FisheryManagement Council, has nooverfished stocks and only one stocksubject to overfishing.

Something is clearly wrong in ourregion.

NMFS must be accountablefor both success and failure

These persistent management failings are not simply badreflections on the reputations of NMFS and U.S. fisheries. Theimpacts of NMFS’s actions, or lack thereof, extend well beyondthe consequences to the fish populations.

There are substantial opportunity costs associated with thesefailures: losses in revenues and coastal fishing jobs are the pricethe U.S. pays for poor management.

The agency can’t be very proud of this persistent black stainon its otherwise positive performance. But management won’timprove, nor will affected stocks rebuild, until NMFS starts tohold itself as accountable for its poor performances as it doesfor its successes.

The remedy is not difficult and can be found in Mr. Oliver’sown remarks: strict management. Strict management has beenfound over and over to lead directly to stock rebuilding, stockhealth, increased revenues, and increased jobs.

It isn’t too much to ask for progress and success with allthe nation’s fisheries; they are, after all, a public resource. Andit should not be too much for NMFS to deliver progress andsuccess to all the nation’s fisheries. Mr. Oliver, you are capable,surprise us: we’ll gladly even settle for a “C” next time around.

Peter Shelley is Senior Counsel at Conservation LawFoundation Massachusetts. Until 2010, Peter served as VicePresident and Director of CLF Massachusetts. He is admittedto the bar in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State ofMaine, State of Pennsylvania and U.S. District Court for theDistrict of Massachusetts.

- 29 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

NMFS Receives Failing Grades on Status Reportby Peter Shelley

OPINION

In New England, Atlantic cod have been overfishedand subject to overfishing for decades.

RISAA members George“Ray” Clark, Paul Laflamme,Bill Donnelly and I (Tom Houde)met Capt. John Sheriff at the dockin Galilee for an 8:00 AM launchon October 20.

Captain Sheriff welcomed usaboard the Fish On II, a 32’ SeaCraft center console powered withtwin 300 HP Mercury Veradoengines and equipped with Garminelectronics.

Capt. Sheriff maximizes hisknowledge and experience to workeffortlessly in providing us with arewarding day on the water.

Our trip started with a safety briefing and then we cast off thelines to makeour way to theNorth Rip atBlock Island.The day wasan awesomecombination ofsunny skies,flat water andlittle wind.

Ray Clarkwas the first tostart catchingwith a bluefishand stripedbass. Bill andPaul alsoadded somebluefish to thecooler. I jiggedup some smallblack sea bassthat werereturned to thesea due to sizelimit.

Following the plan ourcaptain mapped for us wepowered off to the East Groundsfor some bottom fishing wherewe set up some very productivedrifts.

The action was steady andconsistent with the black sea bassbite. Large and small BSB tookthe Deadly Dick lures we wereusing to jig off the bottom. Wewere using 7’ Five Star Tsunamispinning rods paired withQuantum Boca reels. This lightgear allowed us to fishcontinuously with little effort.

Captain John kept us entertained and offered advice as needed.The boats cooler started to fill up and our crew was able to

add some cod and a lone Atlantic bonito to our catch. The threecod landed were all keeper sized with mine clearing the minimumsize by an inch. Meanwhile Bill added two very nice sized cod tothe cooler.

Paul had a bent rod most of the time at both locations. Rayand I are members of the RISAA kayak committee and thoroughlyenjoyed our day on Fish On II with Bill and Paul.

Captain John told us that the “last drift” was upon us so weall tried to land the last fish of the day. (to page 31)

CAPTAIN SHERIFF’S CHARTERS • Capt. John Sheriff

- 30 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

report by TOM “TJ” HOUDE

Members (l-r) Tom Houde, Ray Clark, Bill Donnelly andPaul Laflamme

Tom landed this Atlantic bonito

Ray was first to start catching with a nicestriper

- 31 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

28’ Sea Ray Weekender, 1991. Twin 260HPIO’s. 650 hrs on both engines- redone 2 yrs ago.Remote windlass, 12” Garmin GPS, v-berth, fullh e a d .1 0 ’ 6 ”w i d e .E x cc o n d .$15,000.ContactSal at 401-932-9199--------------------------------------------------------

Trophy 126 Fishing/Ocean/Lake Kayak,FutureBeach. two 10” x 18” storage hatches w/rubber covers, adjustable back & seat cushionand foot rest, two flush mount rod holders, etc.U s e donly af e wtimes. Must sell due to health. Kayak w/carrierdolly $275. Paddle $30. Contact Herve atnukstb@cox.net.--------------------------------------------------------

Vortex XHS PerformancePropeller. New in box. #992003w/hub assbly.15x17 RH series A.$100 OBO.Call Gerry at 401-766-0232

-------------------------------------------------------

15’ Coleman Canoe .Used, good condition.Includes 2 paddles. $150OBO.Call 401-265-7602

--------------------------------------------------------

Commercial quohogging license w/restrictedfinfish endorsement. Asking $8,000. Call Joe at401-338-8774 and leave message--------------------------------------------------------

2120 Trophy WA, 2008, w/150 HP EFI, hardtop SS w/see-thru enclosure.Garmin 740S,radar, rww a s h d o w n ,c u s h i o n e dcuddy w/potty/pump out. 2017Venture trailer. One owner. $25,500. Call Bill at860-480-1871 or Pat at 860-480-1987--------------------------------------------------------

RISAA MEMBERS:SEND YOUR CLASSIFIED AD [email protected]. It will run for three months atno cost.-------------------------------------------------------

21’ Grady White Center Console 209 Escape,1997, w/2012 150HP Evintude E-TEC, 515 hrs andEZ Loader trailer.At Charlestown,RI. $16,800. Call203-915-3321.--------------------------------------------------------

SHERIFF CHARTERS REPORT (from page 30)

Bill Donnelly landed this keeper cod

We retrieved our lines, secured tackle and gear and made ready forthe run back to port.

One benefit to fishing with such a powerful boat is the time spentfishing versus traveling from port to fishing grounds and vice versa. Ifthe Fish On II had wings we would’ve been flying to Galilee. Wepassed many boats that left the grounds earlier than us and we gotback to the dock in record time.

Our final tally stood at 21 black sea bass, 3 bluefish, 3 cod fish and1 Atlantic bonito. We all left with bags filled with filets.

We would definitely recommend Capt. John Sheriff to any memberwanting to try a mixed bag fishing trip aboard the Fish On II. Contacthim at 401-450-2549 and www.fishingchartersri.com for information.

- 32 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

CORAYER: 39 FISHERMEN (from page 7)

Standing up at a microphone and speaking your mind does.Fisheries regulators are mandated to read and consider all publiccomments before they draft changes. That’s the beauty of oursystem; it’s hinged on our voices but the system fails if wedon’t speak.

Earlier in the day, a man from Albany, New York purchaseda beautiful Abel pocket knife fromThe Sporting Shoppe in Richmond.It was a gift. He drove 350 miles topurchase a knife because it bore thepattern of a brown trout, a fish heloves to catch on the fly. He drovesix hours to buy a knife that lookslike a fish.

With almost 47,000 saltwater license holders in this state, 39people drove to Narragansett to speak about striped bass, whichare overfished and overfishing is occurring, to the people whoregulate them.

As public meetings and comment periods occur for otherfish populations, I hope you all email my new friend Max [email protected]. Public comments are the hinges thatswing big doors.

RISAA member Todd Corayer is a lifelong fisherman who livesnot far from the Saugatucket River with his wife, who supportshis fishing mainly to get him out of the house and a young sonwho regularly catches more fish than him.

Abel/Spyderco knife

FISHERIES CLIMATE (from page 34)

Capt. Rick Bellavance, New England Fishery ManagementCouncil member and president of the RI Party & Charter BoatAssociation, said, “I have seen what appears to be a shift ofspecies into our area. Species like black sea bass have becomea significant part of my business. Others, like bluefin tuna seemto be moving north and east… away from us. And, “The largerstriped bass are spending more time in deeper water, furtheroffshore than in the past, yet the small fish seem to thrive in thewarmer water and are very active in shallow water. I think manyof the rare catches we hear about have occurred in the past, butit is probably safe to assume that we will hear more of catcheslike Spanish mackerel, cobia, snappers and groupers if the watertemps rise to levels that they like.”

Fred Mattera, executive director of the Commercial FisheryCenter of Rhode Island (CFCRI) that represents eight commercialfishing related associations, said, “Climate change is very real.Our fishermen are experiencing increasing competition off RhodeIsland from Virginia and North Carolina boats who have summerflounder quota but no fish in their area. We have the fish herebut no adequate quota allocation. These allocation challengesare only going to increase as climate change accelerates andmore stock shifts occur. We need an equitable way to addressstock shifts and allocations.”

The stock shift example all are pointing to is black sea bass.Mattera said, “We did not catch many of them in the 90’s buttoday they are prolific. Our fishermen are catching themeverywhere. Yet, we do not have the allocation and are throwingtons of them back as by-catch. We need to build climate changeimpacts like this into allocation models as soon as possiblebecause changes are accelerating.”

The CFCRI is partnering with the state of RI on a black seabass study to determine just how many sea bass are in thenorthern regions. Mattera said, “Having the science to back upour claims is the first step; then we need to build study findingsinto allocation models.”

“Fishermen know to fish for what is in the water; we justneed to help them adapt with new fishing methods and gear asthey target new abundant species in their area,” said Mattera.Strong national fishing law needed to make changes

We need to step on the accelerator and engage fully onclimate change and its impact on fish and fishing communities.This means when it comes to the difficult issue of reallocationbetween regions, our federal fishing law needs to be strong, asregions will resist giving up quota even though the fish are nolonger in their area. If at all possible, we need to do no harm;however, we also need to move the country forward for thecommon good as the fish belong to all the people of the UnitedStates of America. Fishing law needs to allow for science-baseddata as well as historical data when addressing allocation.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the fishing law of ournation, is over 40 years old and has been updated several times.It is a good law, which has allowed more than 45 fish stocks tobe rebuilt since 2000. However, when updated it needs toaccelerate ecosystem-based management approaches, provideenough teeth to address warming water, fish movement andallocation as well as ocean acidification and sea level rise.

(to pge 33)

According to the Councils, the recently released (andadjusted) harvest limits for recreational fishing are higher than2020 and 2021 harvest limits proposed and may require additionalconstraints on recreation fishing. This is a continuing seismicshock from the implementation of increased effort data fromMRIP pushing up both the numbers of fish estimates in theocean and the number being caught by recreational anglers.

SUMMER FLOUNDERAt this time, it appears that we will remain at status quo for

2020.

BLUEFISHAs expected, bluefish

stocks have been designatedas overfished. This will resultin an 18% cut in recreationalharvest although it has not yet been determined how thattranslates to future regulations.

SCUPWhile there is no overfishing

occurring and the scup SSB(spawning stock biomass) isestimated at two times the current

target there is concern about lower than average recruitmentduring the 2016-2018 period. At this time the joint Boards’recommendation is for a 12% decrease in harvest for 2020 and a28% decrease for 2021. How that gets implemented is going tobe a local issue on size, season and bag limits in the comingyears.

GOING FORWARDI have been citing the new MRIP mail survey data for having

a major impact on our recreational fisheries. According to thesampling statistical model that NOAA has chosen, this data isrepeatedly indicating a much larger recreational harvest thanpreviously calculated in combination with new sampling(intercept) data and enhanced mail surveys.

So far as I can tell, nearly every recreational fisheries speciesis affected. The first time it was used was in January of this yearto calculate the overall summer flounder biomass and led to adeclaration of a restored biomass, a large increase in allowedcommercial harvest and recreational fisherman being frozen toexisting regulations.

The statistical program was peer reviewed and itsapplication judged to be accurate prior to its application byNOAA to the MRIP program. That does mean we can’t ask fora justification and explanation of how and why we are beingsubject these management decisions.

- 33 - R.I.S.A.A. / Novemer, 2019

Manufacturer of FineTerminal Tackle for the

Saltwater Fisherman

Snelled Hooks, Top andBottom Rigs, Lures, Tubes,Leadheads, Umbrella Rigs

and more....

P.O. Box 763Londonderry, NH 03053Tel: 603-434-4689Fax: 603-432-3902E-mail:[email protected]

Check out our web site atwww.seawolfetackle.com

Owned and operated byRichard and Judy Wolfe

THE WATCH (from page 3)

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) has announced a bipartisaneffort to garner input for a reauthorization of the MSA nextspring. Huffman is the Chair of the Water, Oceans, and WildlifeSubcommittee on the House Natural Resources Committee andis holding a series of roundtable discussions throughout theUnited States. The first two occurred in California in earlyOctober. He plans to engage diverse perspectives, interests,and needs of individuals who have a stake in management ofour ocean and fisheries resources.

Huffman hopes to restore the historically bipartisancharacter of marine fisheries policies including prior successfulMagnuson-Stevens reauthorizations. The goal for his listeningtour is to assess whether improvements to the Magnuson-Stevens Act are needed and if so, what they should be. Topicscovered in his roundtable discussions will include climate changeimpacts on fisheries and whether managers have the tools andresources they need to ensure resilient fish populations andstability to fishing communities.

If reauthorization moves forward, the fishing communityneeds to make sure climate change and all of its ramificationsare addressed in the new law. Our policies must evolve with theemerging threats in our future; only then can we fully protectand conserve our marine resources for us to enjoy forgenerations to come.

This article printed courtesy of the Marine Fish ConservationNetwork of which RISAA is a member.

CLIMATE (from page 32)SURFCASTERS (from page 16)

THANK YOU!The Surfcasters team would like to thank the many fishing

clubs and individuals who contributed items to our raffle tablefor their generosity and caring. We would not have had such asuccessful and fun tournament without their support.• Fish Hook Vineyards - wine• Gansett Custom Tackle – Penn reel and custom bucktails &

jigs• Kathleen Aspinall – cherry cheesecake• Maridee Bait and Tackle – plugs, filet knife• Mike’s Custom Plugs – handmade wooden plugs• RISAA Surfcasters Committee – plugs, jigs, tackle• Vinnie’s Customs – handmade wooden plugs & lead jig heads• Several surf fishing clubs – various tackle, gift certificate

In the long term, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery ManagementCouncil will have to develop a rebuilding plan, that will restorebluefish abundance to the target level within ten years. Thatwill almost certainly require some reductions in commercialand recreational landings although what those reductions willbe haven’t yet been determined.

Undoubtedly, there will be a lot of push back from the usualvoices, who claim that all the bluefish are offshore (maybepartying with the also overfished striped bass, which such folksalso claim are hanging out in the EEZ these days), or vacationingoff Africa (yes, I really heard something like that at a meetingcalled by the Mid-Atlantic Council here in New York) or beingdevoured by mako sharks, which have recently been offeredsome very modest protections (heard that one at the samemeeting).

Others will just say it’s just “the cycle,” and that no remedialmeasures are needed.

Fortunately, all that will amount to nothing but meaninglessnoise, because the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation andManagement Act clearly says

“The Secretary shall report annually to the Congress andthe Councils on the status of fisheries within each Council’sgeographical area of authority and identify those fisheries thatare overfished or approaching a condition of being overfished…

“If the Secretary determines at any time that a fishery isoverfished, the Secretary shall immediately notify theappropriate Council and request that action be taken to endoverfishing in the fishery and to implement conservation andmanagement measures to rebuild affected stocks of fish…

“Within 2 years after an identification [of an overfishedstock] or notification [that a stock is overfished or likely tobecome overfished] the appropriate Council (or the Secretary[in the case of highly migratory fisheries]) shall prepare andimplement a fishery management plan, plan amendment, orproposed regulations for the fishery to which the identificationor notice applies—to end overfishing immediately in the fisheryand to rebuild affected stocks of fish; or to prevent overfishingfrom occurring in the fishery whenever such fishery is identifiedas approaching an overfished condition. [emphasis added;internal numbering omitted]”

The law’s use of the word “shall” takes away all discretionfrom the Councils, the National Marine Fisheries Service andthe Secretary of Commerce. If a stock is found to be overfished,as is the case with bluefish, NMFS shall initiate a rebuildingplan. If it fails to do so, it will likely be sued, and compelled toact by the courts, no matter how many uninformed people claimthat such plan isn’t needed.

The Mid-Atlantic Council has already indicated that arebuilding plan will be created, saying that

“The results of the bluefish operational assessment indicatethat the stock is overfished with overfishing not occurring.Following official Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Officenotice of the overfished status, the Council will have to initiatea bluefish rebuilding plan within two years.”

We’re unlikely to see regulations arising out of a bluefishrebuilding plan before 2022, and it could take longer than thatif the Council drags its feet. So what a lot of people are curious

about is what the short-term impacts of the operationalassessment will be.

From what we can see right now, those impacts will besignificant.

Bluefish, like striped bass, are primarily a sport fish. Whilethey can be and are eaten, most anglers prefer to release mostor all of their catch, to maintain stock abundance and hopefullycatch them multiple times, rather than tossing their blues in acooler and immediately removing them from the population.That means that a large proportion of the recreational fishingmortality is attributable to fish that don’t survive release, ratherthan fish that are intentionally killed.

Fishery managers estimate that about 15% of bluefish dieafter release. In the past, that percentage was applied acrossall size ranges of fish. However, because anglers tend to keepthe smaller bluefish, while releasing larger individuals,managers believe that such a simple approach does notaccurately reflect the poundage of bluefish that are lost torelease mortality, although it does reflect the number of fishlost. And because the recreational bluefish allocation incalculated in pounds, rather than in numbers of fish, it’spoundage that matters.

Thus, beginning with the 2020 fishing year, managers willuse a different approach to estimate the quantity of fish lost torelease mortality. As a result, the estimate of recreational releasemortality will be much higher than in previous years, and that’sgoing to have a big impact on the size of the recreational harvestlimit, which will be substantially smaller than in was in 2019.

This year, the recreational catch target was 18.11 millionpounds. An estimated 2.49 million pounds in release mortalitywas subtracted from that, resulting in total allowablerecreational landings of 15.62 million pounds. Managers didn’texpect anglers to catch their entire quota, so 4 million poundswas transferred to the commercial sector, leaving a recreationalharvest limit of 11.62 million pounds.

Next year, if the Bluefish Monitoring Committee’srecommendation is followed, the recreational catch target willbe lowered to 13.51 million pounds, to account for theworsening state of the stock. At the same time, the releasemortality estimate was increased to 9.9 million pounds toaccount for the fact that it is usually the larger blues that arereleased. The result is a total allowable recreational landingslimit of just 3.62 million pounds; because anglers are expectedto catch that entire amount, there will be no transfer of fish tothe commercial sector, resulting in a recreational harvest limitthat, while equal to the allowable recreational landings, isroughly 30 percent of the 2019 recreational quota (note thatthese numbers might change just a bit, depending on whetherthe Mid-Atlantic Council decides to go with annual catch limitsthat change every year, or whether they choose a constant catchstrategy that averages out annual landings, but either way,they’re in the ballpark).

The commercial sector will face a similar cutback. In 2019,the commercial quota, boosted by the transfer from therecreational sector, was 7.71 million pounds. In 2020, it willfall to 2.77 million pounds.

(to page 39)

- 34 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

BLUEFISH (from page 9)

In the Fall 2018 Boating Safety Circular (BSC) we publishedan article covering the update of the outboard weights. Belowthe BSC continues to cover this topic with additional informationfrom the Small Entity Compliance Guide for Recreational BoatSafe Loading and Flotation Regulations.

Small Entity Compliance GuideRecreational Boat Safe Loading and Flotation Regulations33 CFR 183.75United States Coast Guard

The RuleThe Coast Guard is implementing a statutory mandate to

require new recreational boats to have more flotation, to supportthe weight of heavier modern gasoline outboard engines. Thenew rules, found in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations(CFR) 183.75, update the outboard engine weights table usedin calculat-ing safe loading capacities.

The new rules provide a higher level of safety. These rulesreplace regulations last updated in 1984. Section 308 of theCoast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 requires the Coast Guardto issue regulations updating Table 4 of subpart H in 33 CFRpart 183 to reflect the ABYC S-30 standard.

The rule became effective on June 1, 2018. This ComplianceGuide, issued under the Small Business Regulatory EnforcementAct of 1996, provides a plain-language overview of the rule,but you should refer to the final rule directly for details.

What is the cost of implementing this rule?The Coast Guard estimates that, for most manufacturers, it

will cost less than $50 per boat to implement the new rule.So what does the change from Table 4 to

Table 183.75 mean for the boat manufacturer?Table 183.75 more accurately accounts for the weight of

the outboard engine when it comes to determining the SafeLoading and Level Flotation of a particular boat model. Notethat the new Table 183.75 comes with 6 notes that are veryimportant. In particular, note 1 allows the manufacturer to deduct10% of the dry engine weight if the transom height is 20 inchesor less, which is the case for most recreational boats under 20feet in length; and note 6 allows the manufacturer to omit theweight of the portable fuel tank if the boat has a permanentlyinstalled fuel tank and is not intended to be operated with aportable fuel tank.

What happens when ABYC updates itsS-30 weight table?

Although ABYC periodically updates the S-30 weight tablebased on market surveys, 33 CFR 183.75 will remain unchanged

until such date when the regulation is revised. So, if in thefuture S-30 is updated to reflect the out-board engine weightof that date, boat manufacturers may voluntarily comply withthe updated industry standard, but must comply with the Table183.75. For now, the voluntary industry standard and the federalregulation in regards to outboard engine weight are the same.

How does this affect recall campaigns?In the event that your company is involved in a recall

campaign to correct a non-compliance with Safe Loading orLevel Flotation regulations, the corrections to the boats arerequired to only bring them into compliance with the regulationsin effect on the date of certification, as stated by the certificationlabel.

If a recall campaign involves boats with certification datesbefore and after June 1, 2018, the correction to the first groupof boats may be different than the correction for the secondgroup. Of course, for uniformity and simplicity, themanufacturer may choose to make the correction so that all theboats within the scope of the recall campaign become compliantwith the newest Table 183.75.

How to Find This RuleThe official text of the “Recreational Boat Flotation

Standards—Update of Outboard Engine Weight TableRequirements” interim rule appears in 82 Federal Register49737 for Octo-ber 27, 2017. The Federal Register is availableat www.federalregister.gov or additional details on therulemaking record, visit the following website:www.regulations.gov. The docket number for this rule isUSCG-2016-1012.

- 35 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Recreational Boat Safe Loading and Flotation Regulations

From Boating Safety Circular, 2019

Additional floation requirements because of heavier modern outboards

Websites of Note:uscgboating.org — U.S. Coast Guard’s BoatingSafety DivisionFacebook.com/USCG Boating Safety — U.S. CoastGuard Boating Safetysafeafloat.com — Recreational Boating ProductAssurance Branch Boat Building ComplianceWebsiteabycinc.org — American Boat and Yacht Councilnmma.org — National Marine ManufacturersAssociationnasbla.org — National Association of State BoatingLaw Administrators (NASBLA)

- 36 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

CONDOLENCESWe extended our deepest sympathies to member CaptainB.J. Silvia and his wife Cindy, who loss his dad “RobertA. Silvia, Sr.” at age 76 on October 5. BJ’s dad was formerlyfrom Middletown, RI but was now a resident of Troy, Maine.

GET WELLGEORGE STORY

was hospitalized for three weeks fornerve damage in his left hip. He isnow going through physical therapyfrom home, but says he will do what ittakes to fix the problem so he’s readyto go fishing in the spring. Get wellGeorge!

CONGRAGULATIONSRICH AND

SUZYHEFFERNANwho celebrated their

42nd weddinganniversary recently.

GET WELLJON NOBLET

had to cancel his spot on the RISAATautog Fishing Trip on October 26because of some major knee issues.We wish you a speedy recovery Jon.

GET WELLCAPT. JOE ESTRELLAJoe had to spend 52 days in the hospitalduring September and October with acollapsed lung. In addition to being aRISAA member, Joe is also captain ofthe Lady Pomham, that takes passengerto the Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. Joe

is home and said he’s doing OK.

Annual RISAA Party BoatTautog Fishing Trip

October 26, 2019

Photos from the

6:00 AMHeading out to

thefishing grounds

At the 78th Annual Meeting of the ASMFC, held in NewCastle, NH, the ASMFC’s Atlantic Striped Bass ManagementBoard adopted the options that were required to develop andadopt Addendum VI to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

The SB Management Board is made up of commissionersfrom Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Other members includeDistrict of Columbia, National Marine Fisheries Service,Potomac River Fisheries Commission and the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service.

Addendum VI was mandated in response to the 2018 StripedBass Benchmark Stock Assessment that indicated the AtlanticStriped Bass stock was overfishedand overfishing was occurring. Thistriggered immediate action to reducethe total fishery removals by at least18%.

The Draft Addendum presentedseveral options to achieve thereductions that would reduce quotafor commercial fisheries and changesin bag limits, minimum sizes and slotlimits for the recreational fishingsector.

Public hearings were held on allcoastal states for stakeholders toprovide input on the options. A hearing was held in RhodeIsland (see page 7) and the public could also submit commentsvia mail and email.

SLOT APPROVEDThree main options were:1) status quo (no changes)2) equal reductions for commercial and recreational3) commercial takes smaller reduction than recreationalOption 2 was approved by the commissions. Then there

were several sub-options that would govern the coastal/oceanfishery and others for Chesapeake Bay.

The Commissioners approved option2-A2 which will be one fish at 28 to 35 inches (slot) for the

coastal fishery. This is determined to produce a 19% reduction.The vote was 12 states in favor, 1 oppose, 2 abstain.They also had to adopt a new option for the Chesapeake

Bay region which always has separate regulations from thecoastal fishery. They approved sub-option 2-B1 which will beone fish at 18 inches and achieve an 18% reduction. This passedby a vote of 12 in favor, 0 opposed and 3 abstentions.

CIRCLE HOOKSAlso part of Addendum VI was a proposal regarding the

use of circle hooks while fishing for striped bass with bait.

(this does NOT involvefishing with lures, etc., only bait)

There were three optionsavailable:

A: status quoB: states required to

implement regulations mandating use of circle hooksC. states required to promote use of circle hooks, but not

mandate use.Proponents noted that enforcement could be difficult, but

said that most anglers would likely accept the change, and thateducation and continued enforcement would eventually wouldget more people to come around.

The Board unanimously approvedOption B, which will mandate use ofcircle hooks while bait fishing forstriped bass coastwide. The Board alsoagreed that the circle hook mandatewould not take effect until 2021 so thattackle shops can get rid of current stockand prepare for the new circle hooks.

CONSERVATIONEQUIVALENCY

There was much debate during themeeting on this issue, and that it wouldbe allowed on a state-by-state basis.

Conservation equivalency allows states flexibility to developalternative regulations while still achieving the goals (in thiscase percent reduction) of the FMP.

Some states strongly supported this, while others noted thatwhen the management options were presented to the public,some of the options, especially the adoption Option 2, seemedunambiguous with “equal” meaning “equal.” In other words,state managers couldn’t take, for example, different percentreductions from recreational anglers and commercial fishermenwith the proviso that all works out because it equals an 18%overall reduction.

Jason McNamee, Chief of RI Marine Fisheries Division,one of the RI Commissioners, said regarding conservationequivalency, “You’re either all in, or you’re all out,” andexpressed the belief that management should be on a coastwidebasis or state-by-state, and you can’t do this by incorporating alittle of both.

(Note: RISAA was opposed to conservation equivalency(CE) and stated this during the ASMFC’s RI public hearing)

As it stands, states will be allowed to develop CE proposals,as long as they achieve an 18% reduction, using MRIP data,which must then be presented by November 30 with finaldecisions to be made at the ASMFC’s February meeting.

- 37 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Recreational anglers will be restricted by slot limit

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Atlantic Striped Bass Management BoardAdopts Options For Addendum VI To Begin in 2020

- 38 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

JUNIOR MEMBERS

FLYNN and HAYESJANSEN

display a pair of black seabass that they caught whilefishing with their grandfather,member RICK BLACKaboard his boat, Wicked, thispast July.Both Flynn (9 yrs at top) andHayes (6 yrs - bottom) areboth future hard core anglers!

Member

GREG SPIERTook both his wife and neice, Katie,fishing near Elbow Ledge on July 6 aboardhis 32' Century boat, Fishey. Using a tube& worm, they caught several small stripersand bluefish. It was a great day, and Katiewas thrilled with her catch (in photo withGreg)

Member

CAROL MELLODisplays the 10.04 lb jumbo flukethat she caught while fishing withhusband Steve, aboard their boat,Carol's Girl, on July 5 offSakonnet Point.Carol and Steve took 1st Place inthe 2019 RISAA Team FlukeChallenge, this fish also tookthe "largest fish" of the tournmentprize!

- 39 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Dehooker Tool - Less Harm To Fishby DICK FERRIS

Every now and then you have a great fishing day when youcatch 50 fish and keep 5 for the table. Even when you takecare, there is a chance of mishandling some of the released fishbased on the sheer volume of fish you are handling. With thesethoughts in mind, I can remember trying to carefully releasefish, but it was time consuming which wasn’t good for the fishor me.

Past practices would include netting the fish, bringing itonboard the boat, getting it outof the net and on the deck,extracting the hook with pliers,picking it up and releasing itback into the water.

Sometimes I could be reallyefficient and get the wholeprocess completed in about a 1minute and sometimes it was alittle longer, depending on how difficult the hook was set.

Well that was my past.When I finally stumbled across the ARC dehooker and

figured out how to use it, I felt that I had missed a lot ofopportunities to catch more fish, to have more fun fishing andto safely release more fish in sustainable condition.

Additionally, when I learned of the 9% mortality rate forreleased fish, I thought that widespread use of improved fish

dehooking practices could actuallyincrease overall survival rates of releasedfish in a measurable way. And that is a goodthing for everyone.

Using an ARC dehooking device simplifies and acceleratesthe release process considerably for me. I simply get the fishto the side of the boat, leave the fish in the water, engage thedehooker and release the fish without touching it. The entire

process takes about 10 seconds.The fish swims away, the line

goes back in the water, fishingcommences immediately, andthere is no swabbing the decksclean.

This year I have actuallyfished a school of 18 to 24 inchstripers and blues boiling the

surface and caught and released, with an ARC dehooker, 8 to10 fish to my mate’s two. After a while, the differences werepainfully obvious, and I’m sure I was having the time of mylife.

But it is hard to try something new when the schoolies arejumping out of the water all around the boat. So prepareyourself ahead of time for some added fun on the water.

(to page 40)

And the commercial sector should be happy that it won’tfall any lower, for while anglers will see a substantial numberof fish deducted from their annual catch target to account forrelease mortality, there is no accounting for discard mortalityin the commercial calculation.

That’s right: The official level of discard mortality inthe commercial bluefish fishery is precisely zero.

That estimate is clearly wrong, given that many states governtheir commercial bluefish fishery with daily trip limits, andfurther given that gill nets are one of the most common geartypes that commercial bluefishermen employ. A combinationof trip limits and gill nets will inevitably lead to some level ofdead discards, a level that could be very high when the fish arelocally abundant.

That’s one thing that needs to befixed in any future amendment to themanagement plan.

So it looks like both commercialand recreational fishermen are goingto be landing fewer bluefish nextyear, and probably for quite a few years going forward.

Until the Mid-Atlantic Council makes a final decision onhow it will set the recreational harvest limit—averaged, or year-by-year—and until the recreational landings for 2019 can betterbe estimated, it’s impossible to guess what next year’sregulations will look like, although it’s fair to say that either aseason, size limit or smaller bag limit, and maybe all three, willresult.

The good news is that the updated data has put an end tothe transfer of “unused” recreational quota to the commercialsector, and should put a stake through the heart of the pendingAllocation Amendment, which threatened to permanentlyreallocate such unused quota from recreational to commercialfishermen. Now, the entire recreational quota will, in alllikelihood, be landed. If the Allocation Amendment survivesin any form, it will probably just be as a tool to adjustcommercial allocations among the coastal states.

The Allocation Amendment could also be broadened toinclude the new rebuilding plan, and thus kill two birds withone stone.

And with any luck, if the Allocation Amendment survives,it could be a vehicle that introduces a whole new concept to thefederal fishery management system, at least in the New Englandand Mid-Atlantic fisheries. That’s the notion that fish don’thave to be killed to be used, and that managing a recreationalfishery primarily (but not exclusively) for catch-and-release—something that is already accepted in freshwater fisheries foreverything from brook trout to muskellunge—is just as viableas managing it for yield.

Should that occur, then the current bad news for bluefishmay morph into some very good news for the long-termabundance of our coastal fish stocks.

Charles Witek, from Greenwich CT, has spent over 50 years on thewater, and is a well-known author and blogger. Witek said, “I haverealized that without strong fisheries laws and effective conservationmeasures, the future of salt water fishing, and America's living marineresources, is dim.”

- 40 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

BLUEFISH (from page 34) PERIWINKLES (from page 24)

Recipe: Steamed Periwinklesfrom Simmering the Sea cookbook by Eating with theEcosystem (Serves 4)

INGREDIENTS• 2 lbs periwinkles, scrubbed and rinsed• 1 cup white wine• 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic (Tip: use a microplane)• 7 sprigs fresh thyme• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, separated into stalks and leaves• ½ pound butter, cut into cubes• salt to taste• 1 lemon, cut into quarters• several slices of crusty sourdough bread for serving

DIRECTIONSPlace a large saucepan over high heat on the stove. Mix

periwinkles, wine, garlic, thyme, and parsley stalks in a bowl.Once the saucepan is extremely hot, add ingredients and cover.Steam for 2-3 minutes. Remove periwinkles using a slottedspoon and set aside.

Lower heat to medium and reduce liquid to ¼ cup. Straininto a saucepan. Over extremely low heat, whisk in butter, afew cubes at a time, until emulsified. Finely chop parsley leavesand add to the saucepan. Season with salt.

Place periwinkles in a shallow serving bowl. Pour buttersauce over periwinkles and serve with lemon wedges and crustybread.

Use a toothpick to scoop out the flesh from the shells.You can also make this recipe with clams, littlenecks, whelks,shrimp, mussels, and lobster.

DEHOOKER (from page 39)

Now that I regularly use the ARC Dehooking device, I sadlylook back on the lost opportunities I missed using my old pliersroutine.

There are only certain things I use for fishing that, if lost,would be replaced immediately and the ARC dehooker is onthat list.

Buy one, learn how to use it, (NOAA Catch and Releasehave an excellent 2 minute instructional video on YouTube)and go out and have more fun fishing.

This time with the added bonus of letting more releasedfish live for another day. It is all good, better fishing practicesguaranteed to generate more sustainable fun for everyone.

5) Enclosed is cash or check for: $10 $25 $50 $100 other____ (make payble to: RISAA PAC)

7) From time to time we will acknowledge the names of contributors in our newsletter, but you can remain anonymous, if you prefer. It is OK to print my name Do NOT print my name

6) Donations can ONLY be accepted from individuals. No company or organization check can be accepted. (R.I. law)

Mail to: RISAA PAC, P.O. Box 1465, Coventry, RI 02816

Please print:

- 41 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

David PollackBradley Waugh

One of the missions of RISAA is to represent theconcerns of the recreational community on regulatory andlegislative issues. That means that we have to deal withelected officials.

Fortunately, there are a number of legislators who haveworked hard on our behalf and others who support RISAAprinciples. We need to be sure those officials remain inoffice.

It is also important that legislators understand who weare. If we don’t advance our own causes, no one will do itfor us.

By law, our Association can not contribute funds to anycandidate, therefore we have established a legal,incorporated and registered Political ActionCommittee which CAN make contributions on our behalf.It has an independent treasurer and its own bank account.

Only donations specifically made to the RISAA PAC can beused. Under no circumstances can any membership duesmoney - or any other contribution made to the Association -be used for the PAC. It would be a violation of state electionlaws for any money from RISAA to be used for PAC purposes.

Also, all money received by the PAC must come fromindividual donors. No contribution can be accepted from anyorganization or business interest.

How it works. The RISAA PAC Committee first receivesrequests for contributions. If the PAC Committee determines acandidate is pro-recreational fishing, pro-environment, etc. it canapprove a request, that recommendation is forwarded to theRISAA Board of Directors which has the final vote on all PACdonations. Every PAC expenditure must pass this 2-step process.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.To be effective, we must participate in the system.

It's time for recreational anglers to stand up and be counted!Enclosed is my contribution to the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association

POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE.

�

1) Name: ______________________________________________________ 2) Phone: __________________3) Address: ________________________________________________________________________________

no. street city state zip4) Place of employment: ________________________________________________________ (required by law)

Address:_______________________________________________________________________________no. street city state zip

With your help we can continue to work within the political system tosafeguard the rights and traditions of recreational fishing

Mel BlakeEdward ChoiniereKenneth Cooper

David GreenAnthony Rocha

Robert BlasiLeo Boliver

Stephen MedeirosHarry Templeton

COPPER (up to $49) BRONZE ($50+) SILVER ($100+) GOLD ($200+)

Herb Adams

PLATINUM ($500+)

Gerard RasoCapt. Sandy Kane

2019 PAC DONORS TO DATE

- 42 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Have you ever needed a plumber or auto mechanic and didn’t know who to call? Ever needed to have an item on your boat or home repaired,but had no idea where to call? Rather than calling a stranger or looking in the yellow pages, call another RISAA member!

EVERY MEMBER WHO RUNS A BUSINESS OR PERFORMS A SERVICE is encouraged to sign up. It is totally FREE!Want to get yourself listed? Call the RISAA office (401-826-2121) and leave your name and number. Someone will get back to you.

ABRASIVES _Massasoit Tool Company.........800-648-6050 Member: Jim Jaques (East Greenwich, RI) Stock/distribute 3M coated abrasivesACCOUNTING _Disanto, Priest & Co................401-921-2035 Member: Raymond Marchak (Warwick, RI) www.disantopriest.comMedical-Dental Consultants...401-943-2200 Member: Ryan J. Holzinger, CPA, MSA, MST www.meddentconsultants.com • Cranston, RIRoger H. St. Germain, CPA.....401-334-1848 Member: Roger H. St. Germain, CPA, MST www.stgermaincpa.com • Lincoln, RIANTIQUES _Linde Antiques & Collectibles.617-365-5356 Member: Jay Linde (N. Scituate, RI) Buying/selling, specialize in bookcasesAUTHORS _Eddie Doherty......774-582-1131 Seven Miles After Sundown, Fish the Canal Surf [email protected] or 508-223-6349ATTORNEYS _Robert A. Brazil, Esq ...............802-424-1404 Star Theater Bldv, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 www.rabrazil.com [email protected] M. Clinton, Esq.............215-309-5567 Law Office of Henry M. Clinton, LLC Phila. PA [email protected] R. DeLuca, Esq...........401-274-6644 Gidley, Sarli & Marusak, L.L.P. 1 Turks Head Pl, Ste 900,Providence,RI 02903Paul James Garlasco, Esq........860-350-4409 83 Park Lane Rd, New Milford, CT 06776 [email protected] T. Marasco, Esq.....www.jmarascolaw.com 617 Smith St., Providence 401-421-7500 118 Pt. Judith Rd, Narragansett 401-789-1800Mitchell S. Riffkin, Esq...........401-732-6500 631 Jefferson Blvd, Warwick, RI 02886Joseph J. Roszkowski, Esq.......401-769-3447 Justice of the Peace 1625 Diamond Hill Rd, Woonsocket, RI 02895Sammartino & Berg..............401-274-0113 Member: Andrew Berg, Esq. (Providence, RI)AUTOMOTIVE _Moore’s Motor Service......401-821-4050 Member: Clarence Moore (Coventry, RI) 487 Washington St, Coventry, RIRC Auto Repair..........................401-615-9924 Member: Raymond Vincent, Jr. (Coventry, RI) General auto repair. 10% off labor to members.Star Service Auto/Marine.........401-821-9887 Member: Jay Starziano (Coventry, RI) 10% discount parts/labor to RISAA membersBAIT & TACKLE _Block Island Fishworks............401-466-5392 Member: Chris Willi (Block Island, RI) 10% off bait/tackle to RISAA membersBreachway Bait & Tackle..........401-364-6407 Member: David Hess (Charlestown,RI) 166 Charlestown Beach Rd, Charlestown

Lucky Bait & Tackle..................401-247-2223 Member: Lorraine Danti (Warren, RI) www.luckybait.com discount to RISAA membersPete’s Bait & Tackle..................401-651-6178 Member: Raymond Miclette (Woonsocket, RI) 341 Burnside Ave, Woonsocket, RIQuaker Lane Bait & Tackle.....401-294-9642 Member: Mike Bestwick (North Kingstown, RI) 4019 Quaker Lane, North KingstownQuonnie Bait & Tackle.............401-637-7184 Member: Peter Silva (Charlestown, RI) 5223 Old Post Rd, CharlestownSaltwater Edge...........................401-842-0062 Member: Peter Jenkins (Middletown, RI) 76 Valley Rd, Middletown,RI saltwateredge.comSnug Harbor Marina.................401-783-7766 Member: Al Conti (Wakefield, RI) www.snugharbormarina.comWatch Hill Outfitters...............401-596-7217 Member: Mike Wade (Westerly, RI) 157 Main St. • www.watchhilloutfitters.comBOAT CANVAS _Jackpot Enterprises..................401-596-4089 Member: Cathy Muli (Westerly, RI) zippers, windows, repairsBOATING NEWS _New England Boating...............508-789-6708 Member: Tom Richardson (Mattapoisett, MA) www.newenglandboating.comBOAT SALES _Blue Water Boat Sales..............401-241-7342 Member: Derek Leigh (Warwick, RI) New-used-brokerage. BlueWaterBoatSales.comInland Marine, Inc.....................401-568-0995 Member: Ross Lemieux (Chepachet, RI) Boat sales, service and repairsMcShane Yacht Sales, LLC......617-460-4530 Member: Dave McShane (Warwick, RI) NorthCoast,Crownline, Finseeker, YamahaOcean House Marina................401-364-6040 Member: Rob Lyons (Charlestown, RI) Hydra-Sports, Steiger Craft, Maritime SkiffPetzolds Yacht Sales RI............401-846-8484 Member: Joe Nadeau (Charlestown, RI) Edgewater,SeaFox, Brokerage www.petzolds.comSouth Shore Dry Dock Marine.508-636-9790 Member: Capt. Jason Powell (Westport, MA) www.southshoredrydock.comStriper Marina...........................401-245-6121 Member: Capt. Alfred Elson (Barrington, RI www.stripermarina.comCHIROPRACTOR _Pruitt Chiropractic...................401-847-8889Member: Dr. Craig Pruitt (Middletown, RI)www.pruittchiropractic.comCOMPUTERS _Computer & Network Services..401-921-4288 Member: Bob LeBlanc (Warwick, RI) 10% off all labor; $25 off complete custom sys.Freedom Technology Solutions.800-979-0040 Member: Kenny Fernandez (Johnston, RI) [email protected] FTSSupport.com

CONSTRUCTION _Bryan Couture Construction...401-792-3672 Member: Bryan Couture (Narragansett, RI) Concrete flatwork, patios, driveways, floorsDENTISTRY _Exquisite Smiles.......................508-761-5320 Member: Dr. James Phelan (S. Attleboro, MA) www.exquisite-smile.comForster Orthodontics................401-619-1888 Member: Dr. Matt Forster, DMD forsterorthodontics.comENGINEERING _RP Engineering, Inc.................401-885-7255 Member: Richard Pastore (N. Kingstown, RI) Environmental, structural, civil and marineENGRAVING & ETCHING _Ron Nalbandian........................401-377-4688 Westerly, RI 401-932-3890 Shop/mobile ser. - glass, wood, stone, metalENTERTAINMENT _The Sleepster.............................401-862-0981 Member: Harold J. Hemberger (Johnston, RI) Stage hypnotist, parties, events, fund-raisersENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES _Alliance Environmental Group 401-732-7600 Member: Richard C. Hittinger (Warwick, RI) Envir assessment, compliance, clean-up svcsESTATE APPRAISERS/CLEAN-OUTS _Estate Services of RI...................401-789-3646 Member: George Lovesky (Wakefield, RI) www.estateservicesofri.com All over RI.FINANCIAL SERVICES _Ameriprise Financial...............508-497-8931 Garth Fondo (Hopkinton, MA) Certified Financial PlannerTM

Financial Engines.....................401-921-3331 Christian Grundel, CFP (Warwick, RI) email: [email protected] Fargo Advisors...............401-848-9949 James Tollefson, CFP, VP-Investment Officer [email protected] SCHOOLS _American Firearms School 508-695-5869 Member: Matthew Medeiros (N.Attleboro) www.AmericanFirearmsSchool.com RISAA disc.FISHING APPAREL _Linesider Marine Specialties..401-439-5386 Capt. Eric Gustafson (Block Island,RI) Angling apparel. 10% off to RISAA members.FISHING CHARTERS _Big Game Sportfishing.............401-243-7046 Capt. Brian Bacon (Snug Harbor, RI) www.biggamefishingri.comBooked Off Charters................401-741-2580 Capt. Tony Guarini (Wakefield, RI) bookedoffcharters.comCapt. John Boats...................508-746-2643 Capt. Bob Avila (Plymouth, MA) www.captjohn.com Fishing at Stellwagen BankCapt. Sheriff ’s FishingChartersRI.com Capt. John Sheriff (Charlestown, RI) www.FishingChartersRI.com - 401-450-2549Carol J Charters......................401-207-6947 Capt. Paul Johnson, Sr. (Wakefield, RI) www.caroljcharters.com

East Coast Charters..................401-338-1752 Capt. Jack Sprengel www.eastcoastchartersri.comFin Reaper Charters.................401-255-9630 Capt. Bruce Weinstein (Snug Harbor) B.I.stripers tuna-shark-cod finreapercharters.comFishnet Charters......................508-951-9991 Capt. Mel True (Freetown, MA) www.MelTrue.comFish’n Tales Adventures..........401-619-4431 Jeffrey O’Brien (Newport, RI) Party boat. FishnTalesAdventures.comFlippin Out Charters................401-529-2267 Capt. B.J. Silvia (Portsmouth, RI) www.flippinoutcharters.comFrances Fleet..............................401-783-4988 Capt. Frank Blount (Pt. Judith, RI) www.francesfleet.com/Here We Go Again Charters.....401-965-0445 Capt. Al Passarelli (Jerusalem, RI) [email protected] On A Feeling Charters..401-788-3638 Capt. Joe Bleczinski (Narragansett, RI) Sailing from Pt. [email protected] Jig Charters......................401-499-9182 Capt. Dave McCormick (Narragansett,RI) www.IrishJigCharters.comIsland Current Fleet..................917-417-7557 Capt. Chris Cullen (Sailing from Snug Harbor) www.islandcurrent.com • $10 RISAA discountLady K Charters....................... 239-565-2949 Capt. Steve Babigian (Snug Harbor, RI) www.ladykcharters.comMaverick Charters..................401-640-0865 Capt. Jack Riley (Snug Harbor, RI) www.maverickchartersltd.comNo Fluke Charters................401-480-3444 Capt. David Monti (Warwick, RI) www.NoFlukeFishing.comNortheast Boat & Kayak Charters.. Capt. Jerry Sparks (CT/RI) 413-219-8455 www.sparksfish.net • 15% RISAA DiscountOn The Rocks Charters........401-359-3625 Capt. Rene Letourneau (Pawtucket, RI) www.ontherockscharters.comPura Vida Charters...............401-601-5499 Capt. Jonathan Lewie (Narragansett, RI) puravidacharters.orgRelentless Charters.............617-462-7885 Capt. David Waldrip (Green Harbor, MA) www.relentlesscharters.comRestless Fishing Charters....401-728-2081 Capt. Rich Templeton Email: [email protected] B’s V............................401-789-9250 Capt. Russ Benn (Pt. Judith, RI) www.sevenbs.comSkinny Water Charters........401-465-8751 Capt. Jim Barr (Newport, RI) www.skinnywaterchartersri.comSnappa Charters...................401-782-4040 Capt. Charlie Donilon (Wakefield, RI) www.snappacharters.comStuffIt Charters.....................401-764-5141 Capt. Joe Pagano (Scituate, RI) www.stuffitcharters.com - RISAA discountTeezer77 Charters................401-524-7239 Capt. Eric Thomas (Portsmouth, RI) www.teezer77.com

Tossing Chunks Charters.....508-345-4022 Capt. Jack Tobin (Barrington, RI) www.tossinchunks.comWestport Pt.Fishing Charters.508-375-3464 Capt. James Turner (Westport, MA) WestportPointCharters.comWise Kraken Charters.........401-678-1958 Capt. Matthew Cox (Snug Harbor, RI) wisekrakencharters.comFISHING NEWS _Coastal Angler MagazineRI..203-321-7635 Lisa Danforth • 25% RISAA discount [email protected] PRODUCTS _9er’s Lures...........................508-822-9650 Member: Eric Ferreira (Taunton, MA) www.9erslures.comA & S Tackle...........................508-679-8122 Member: Steve Abdow (Swansea, MA) www.astackle.comAndrod Custom Fishing Rods.508-399-7837 Member: Robert Andrade (Seekonk, MA) www.androd.comBill Hurley Lures..................413-584-2421 Member: Bill Hurley (Northampton, MA) www.codandstriperlures.comDC’s Custom Wood Plugs....401-465-5338 Member: Dick Cournoyer (Woonsocket, RI) Email: [email protected] Custom Plugs........401-829-2967 Member:Richard Mandeville (Greenville, RI) Built for the fish! www.customstriperlures.comJackpot Digger Jigs..............401-596-4089 Member: Cathy Muli (Westerly, RI) www.jackpotdiggerjigs.com for stripers & moreLonely Angler Lures............207-348-5605 Member: John Wilson (Deer Isle, ME) Custom wood lures - www.lonelyangler.comMillard Wire Company........401-737-9330 Member: Dan LaCroix (Exeter) Inconel Wireline for trolling“The Real Deal”Phase II Lures.........................203-226-7252 Member: Dick Fincher (Westport, CT) Hand-carved lures that catch fish. www.phaseiilures.comSurfHog Lure Co....................401-864-6069 Member: Bob Neilson (North Kingstown, RI) www.surfhoglureco.comTerminal Tackle Co................631-269-6005 Member: John Richy (Kings Park, NY) www.terminaltackleco.com or call for catalogThomCat Fluke Rigs............401-828-9424 Member: Thom Pelletier (Coventry, RI) [email protected] _Eco-Friendly Custom Furniture......401-439-0564 Member: Steven Sabella (Westerly, RI) www.sabellastudio.comGREEN ENERGY _Viridian Energy....................401-602-6578 Member: Daryll Issa (Portsmouth, RI) www.virdian.com/northeastgreenpowerGRILLING__________________________Gilchrist’s GreatGrates.......401-932-7397 Member: Tim Gilchrist (Charlestown, RI) www.greatgrate.com 15% RISAA discountHARBOR TOURS _Newport Yacht Charters.......857-998-1337 Member: Capt. Charles Jenison (Newport,RI) www.newportyachtcharters.net

HOME IMPROVEMENT __Home Repair/Remodeling...401-862-5906 Member: Donald Smith (N. Kingstown,RI) No job too small. References providedPro Touch Home Repair.......401-450-6087 Member: Robert Carey (S.Kingstown, RI) Specializing in small home repairsICE CREAM _Frosty Freez...........................401-846-1697 Member: Mark Pachico (Middletown,RI) 496 Main Rd, Middletown -10% RISAA discINSTRUCTION _Boatwise Marine Training..800-698-7373 Member: Capt.Rick Kilborn (S.Hampton,NH) Recreational & Captains license classesJANITORIAL SERVICES _Fleming’s Cleaning Service.800-605-7334 Member: Tim Fleming (Auburn, MA) Complete commercial janitorial servicesJANITORIAL SUPPLIES _Land-Tek Maintainence......508-252-3795 Member: Ken Anderson (Rehoboth, MA) supplies, paper products, cleaning equipmentJEWELRY- CHAINS, WHOLESALE _Garlan Chain Co.................508-316-3881 Member: David Gariepy (N. Attleboro) www.garlanchain.com * Wholesale OnlyJEWELRY - SEA GLASS _A Day At The Beach..............401-487-5302 Member: Michael McHenry (Tiverton, RI) seaglassjewelrybyjane.com 10% RISAA discKAYAKS _The Kayak Centre of R.I.....401-295-4400 Member: Jeff Shapiro (Wickford, RI) www.kayakcentre.com RISAA discountsLAND SURVEYOR _Alfred W. DiOrio, RLS, Inc..401-377-8124 Member: Alfred DiOrio (Ashway, RI) [email protected] Surveyor/land use consultantWaterman Engineering Co...01-438-5775 Member: Richard Lipsitz (E. Providence) watermanengineering.netLASER ENGRAVING__________________Kell-Strom Tool Company....800-851-6851 Member: Robert Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) General machine and laser markingLAWN CARE________________________Green Wizard Landscaping.401-480-1875 Member: Dan Patrick (Johnston, RI) Landscaping, maintenance, trim, fish pondsOcean State Lawn Service....401-732-8182 Member: Paul Karcz (Warwick, RI) Fertilization programs. 10% RISAA discountMACHINING________________________Hartwell Mfg. Co...................401-567-7720 Member: Jerry Finkle (Chepachet, RI) Custom machining small parts, plastics/metalVolpe Tool & Die, Inc............401-580-1063Member: John Volpe (Blackstone, MA)Custom machining of all materialsMARINE ELECTRONICS _Seaport Communications.....401-783-4778 Member: Manuel Medeiros (Narragansett, RI) Sales - Service - InstallationMARINE FABRICATION _Seaward Boatworks...............401-739-5286 Member: Rick Cataldi (Warwick, RI) Aluminum fabrication and canvas work

- 43 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

MARINE REPAIR _Conanicut Marine................401-423-7158 Member: Bull Munger (Jamestown, RI) www.conanicutmarina.comSnug Harbor Marine Serv Ctr.401-789-7680 Member: Joe Mollica (Wakefield,RI) Engine, marine, rod/reel repairs. Full service.MARINE SUPPLIES _The Ship’s Store & Rigging..401-683-0457 Member: Nick DeRosa (Portsmouth, RI) boating supplies, etc. www.shipstoreri.comMARINE SURVEYING _Down River Marine Surveyor..401-364-6400 Member: Roe LaBossiere (Charlestown, RI) Master Marine SurveyorMARINE TOWING SERVICES _Safe/Sea...................................401-295-8711 Member:Capt. Phil LeBlanc (Wickford, RI) www.safesea.comTowBoatUS/New Bedford.......508-990-3997 Member:Capt. Clint Allen (Dartmouth,MA) www.boatus.comMORTGAGE/HOME LOANS _Pawtucket Credit Union.......401-541-7003 Member: Brad Sudol (East Greenwich, RI purchase/finance great rates. c:401-465-7345Seacoast Mortgage.................401-487-2322 Member: Paul Kennedy (Narragansett, RI) Email: [email protected] _Ferry Orthodontics.................401-781-2900 Member: Dr. Mike Ferry (Cranston/Wakefield) www.ferryortho.comOUTBOARD MOTORS _C.L. Marine............................401-732-6764 Member: Gene Steger (Warwick, RI) Mercury sales,service,parts www.clmarineri.comOUTFITTERSAl Gadoury’s 6X Outfitters...406-600-1835 Member: Allan Gadoury (Bozeman, MT) Guided fly fishing trips. www.6xoutfitters.comPAINT & SUPPLIES _ICI Paints...............................401-751-7300 Member: Bob Marco (Pawtucket, RI) We sell interior and exterior paintPEST CONTROL _Pest Patrol..............................401-463-3116 Member: Robert Todisco (Johnston, RI) Full pest management. 24/7 wildlife servicesPHYSICIANS _Anthony V. Rocha, M.D.........401-438-2780 387 Waterman Ave, E. Providence, RI 02914 Family and internal medicinePRINTING _Tiffany Printing Co...............401-828-5514 Member: Christopher Couture (Coventry,RI) www.tiffanyprinting.comREAL ESTATE_____________ __________Keller Williams....................401-785-1700 Member: Julie LeBlanc (Cranston, RI) [email protected] cell: 401-837-9050Lighthouse RealEstate Group.401-935-9612 Member: Will Litvin (Wakefield, RI) [email protected] www.lighthouseri.comRI Real Estate Services...........401-585-4180 Member: Shannon McCaffrey (E.Greenwich,RI) [email protected] Sales Realtor

Sankey Real Estate..................774-254-1565 Member: Eric Meyer (North Attleboro, MA) www.BaystateHomeSales.comWorld.net Real Estate Group.401-323-2424 Member: Charles Petras (Cumberland, RI) [email protected] or www.TeamPetras.comREAL ESTATE APPRAISERS _Lawrence A. Rainey.................401-439-9083 Certified commercial & residental RISAA discountWhite Appraisal Co., Inc........401-738-9500 Member: S. Keith White, Jr, SRA,SRPA Certified commercial/residential - Warwick,RIRESTAURANTS _Giuseppe’s Pizza and Bistro..401-349-3377 Member: Joseph Saltamachia (Greenville, RI) 19 Smith St, Greenville. Italian food & PizzaSlice Of Heaven...........,..........401-423-9866 Member: Steven Liebhauser (Jamestown,RI) 32 Narragansett Ave, Jamestown, RIROD & REEL REPAIR _Beavertail Rod And Reel........401-215-5062 Member: David Morton (N. Kingstown, RI) www.beavertailrodandreel.comSOLAR CONSULTANT _RGS Energy..............................401-315-2529 Member: Gil Bell (Charlestown, RI) Free solar estimate. [email protected] _Larry’s Licensed Taxidermist..508-883-8190 Member: Larry Hayward (Blackstone, MA)TROPHIES/PLAQUES _Crown Trophy..........................401-231-0070 Member: John Kubaska (Smithfield, RI) www.crowntrophy.comWorld Trophies Co.......401-272-5846 Member: Peter Evangelista (Providence, RI) www.worldtrophies.comVETERINARIANS _Richmond Veterinary Clinic..401-539-2683 Member: Robert Bolton (Wyoming, RI) Practice for small animalsWASTE & RECYCLING SERVICE _WasteXpress, LLC...................401-464-6400 Member: John Souto (Cranston, RI) res/comm containers www.wastexpressri.comWINES _High Hook Oregon Wines.....413-218-0638 Member: Mark Seymour (Leverett, MA) www.fishhookvineyards.com

- 44 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

RHODE ISLANDDEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL

MANAGEMENT

IMPORTANTPHONE

NUMBERS

Boat Registrations222-6647

General Information401-222-6800

ENFORCEMENT401-222-2284

After Hours Hotline401-222-3070

Marine Fisheries Division401-423-1923

Castle Hill, Newport846-3675

Enforcement435-2300

Hazardous Dischanges435-2300

Pt. Judith Station789-0444

U. S. COAST GUARD

It won’t work ifyou don’t wear it!

Life jacketssave lives!

RISAA Members:Have your business or

service listed. It’s FREE.Just call the RISAA office

at 401-826-2121

They are allRISAA Members!

SUPPORT THE

COMPANIES

ON THESE

PAGES

- 45 -

2019 OFFICERS and BOARD OF DIRECTORS

RISAA CONTACTS401-527-5157401-323-0657401-524-9035401-315-2529401-662-5573401-766-8409401-826-2121401-749-5379401-364-0027774-280-0155401-640-3679401-241-2364401-739-1875401-480-3444401-826-2121401-787-5981401-826-2121401-826-2121401-826-2121401-952-8697401-742-9888401-378-5895401-580-1063401-397-4513

Stephen Medeiros...........Capt. Richard Hittinger...Capt. David Monti..........Roger Tellier..................Peter O'Biso..................David Michel................Gary Johnson................Douglas MacPherson.....Robert Murray...............Diane Valerien...............Greg Vespe...................Dawn Filliatreault Wood..

R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Robert Blasi, Chair...............Ralph Orleck, Chair..............Hal Gibson, Chair.................Gilbert Bell, Coordinator........Greg Vespe, Chair................Gisele Golembeski, Chair......Raymond Marchak, CPA......David Pollack, Chair.............Michael Warner, Chair..........Lawrence Hill, Chair.............Kraig Ruth, Chair.................Douglas MacPherson, Chair.. Richard Hittinger, Chair.......... David Monti, Chair................... Peter Jenkins, Chair..................Gary Johnson, Chair..............Stephen Medeiros, Chair.......Stephen Medeiros, Editor......Stephen Medeiros, Chair.......David Michel, Chair..............Richard Heffernan, Chair......Robert Murray, Coordinator...John Volpe, Chair..................Edward Kearney, Chair.........

[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@risaa.org [email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@risaa.org.......

401-826-2121401-739-1875401-480-3444401-398-2670401-783-2364401-952-8697401-787-5981401-241-2364401-378-5895401-523-9050401-662-5573401-263-3919

[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@risaa.org...........

RISAA Office: (401) 826-2121 • FAX: (401) 826-3546Mail Address: P.O. Box 1465, Coventry, RI 02816

WWW.RISAA.ORGNew England Saltwater Fishing Show: www.nesaltwatershow.com

President..................1st Vice President.....2nd Vice President....Secretary.................Treasurer.................Sergeant-At-Arms....Board Member.........Board Member.........Board Member.........Board Member.........Board Member.........Board Member.........

By-Laws Committee..................Charities Committee..................Charter Trips Committee............Dealer Discount Program...........Education Committee.................Elections Committee..................Financial Review Committee......Fly Fishing Committee...............Foundation Committee..............Fund-Raising Committee...........Kayak Committee.....................Legislative Committee................

Artificial Reefs Subcommittee.....Menhaden Subcommittee............Public Access Subcommittee.......

Merchandise Committee............Political Action Committee.........Newsletter................................Saltwater Fishing Show..............Scholarship Committee..............Surfcasters Committee..............Tag & Release Program............Tournaments Committee............Welcome Committee..................

Legal Counsel to Board of Directors.....Mitchell S. Riffkin, Esq

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORStephen [email protected]

28" minimum • 1 fishno closed season

34" & larger must have rightpectoral fin removed

SCUPPorgy

STRIPEDBASS

HADDOCK

POLLOCK

- 46 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

See a violation? Report it!

Connecticut9” min • 25 fish

no closed seasonAMERICAN

EEL

RIDEM ENFORCEMENT DIVISION401-222-3070 (24 hrs)

MADEP ENFORCEMENT DIVISION800-632-8075

CTDEP CONSERVATION POLICE860-424-3333

RECREATIONAL SALTWATER FISHING REGULATIONSMassachusetts

South of Cape Cod18" min • no limitno closed season

no min size • no limitno closed season

16" minimum • 3 fishno closed season

North of Cape Cod12" min • 8 fish

no closed season

Rhode Island

*All of Narragansett Bay,Potter Pond, Point JudithPond and the Harbor ofRefuge is closed to winterflounder fishing

16" minApr 15 to May 31 • 3 fishJun 1 to Jul 31 • closedAug 1 to Oct 14 • 3 fish

Oct 15 to Dec 31 • 5 fishmax 10 fish per boat

12" min • 2 fishMarch 1 to Dec 31

9” min • 25 fishno closed season


BLACK SEABASS

15” min5 fish

May 19 - Dec 31

no min size • 15 fishno closed season

BLUEFISHno min size • 10 fish

(incl snappers)no closed season

no min size • 10 fishno closed season

COD

19" min • no limitno closed season

9" min • 30 fishJan 1 to Dec 31

28" min • 1 fishno closed season*Bonus voucher via

CT DEEP

28" min • 1 fishno closed season

TAUTOG

WEAKFISHSqueteague

16" minOpen seasons:

Apr 1 - Apr 30 • 2 fishJul 1 - Aug 31 • 2 fish

Oct 10 - Nov 28 • 3 fish




WINTERFLOUNDER 12" min • 2 fish

April 1 to Dec 31 South of Cape Cod12" min • 2 fish

March 1 - Dec 31


*See Special Shore below


15” minJun 24 - Aug 31 - 3 fishSep 1 - Dec 31 - 7 fish

(charter rules differ)8" certain shore sites


21 " min • 10 fishno closed season

19" min • 4 fishMay 4 - Sept 30


May 1 - Dec 3119" min • 6 fish

**See Special Shore below


9" min • 30 fish*April 13 to Dec 31

*max 150 fish per boat(charter rules differ)

17" min • 5 fishMay 23 - Oct 9

15” min5 fish

May 18 - Sept 8

South & east of Cape Cod23" min • 10 fish

no closed season*North of Cape see MADMF regs

17" certain shore sites

SUMMERFLOUNDER

Fluke

New York

Long Island Sound16" min

Apr 1-Apr 30 • 2 fishOct 11-Dec 9 • 3 fish

(NY Bight differ)


no min size • 15 fishmax 10 less that 12"

no closed season

28" min* • 1 fishApril 15 - Dec 15

*special regs HudsonRiver, north of GW Bridge

1 fish10" filleted • 12" dressed

no closed season

19" min • 4 fishMay 4 - Sept 30

15” minJun 27-Aug 31 • 3 fishSep 1 - Oct 31 • 8 fish

Nov 1 - Dec 31 • 10 fish




9" min • 30 fishMay 1 to Dec 31

(charter rules differ)

12" min • 2 fishApril 1 to May 30

RI Special Shore Angling Sites (fluke and scup): India Point Park, Providence; Conimicut Park, Warwick; Rocky Point, Warwick;Stone Bridge, Tiverton; East and West Walls (Harbor of Refuge), Narragansett; Fort Wetherill, Jamestown; and Fort Adams, Newport

*Scup at Special Shore Angling Sites: Min. size 8". Total possession 30 fish/day.**Summer Flounder at Special Shore Angling Sites: Min. size 17" (2 fish only). Total possession 6 fish: 2 may be 17", rest must be 19" and larger

TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP

Junior Member: Free (Up to 17 years. Requires parent membership or a RISAA sponsor)

CHECK TYPE

R.I.S.A.A.P.O. Box 1465Coventry, RI 02816

Mail to:

RISAA Sponsor (if parent not a member): __________________________________ Relationship: ____________

Address: _____________________________________ City: _________________________ State: ____ Zip:_________

Occupation: _____________________________ Employed At: ________________________________________

PRINT

Regular Adult: $50/year

The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association is a nonprofit Association established to provide a forum for saltwater anglers; to provide education tomembers concerning fishing techniques and overall enjoyment of fishing; to foster sportsmanship; to support marine conservation and the soundmanagement of fisheries resources; and provide a unified voice to preserve and protect the rights, traditions and the future of recreational fishing.

Meetings are held on the last Monday of each month at the West Warwick Elks in West Warwick, RI at 7:00pm. (attendance not required). Membership benefits include monthly seminars • fishing tournaments •• fishing trips for members only • monthly news magazine • discounts at tackle shops and marine dealers •• social events • college scholarships • adds your voice to fisheries management and conservation issues.

Payment must accompany application. Enclosed is my check for $__________ (payable to R.I.S.A.A.) Charge to my credit card: (check) AmEx* Discover MasterCard Visa Amount Authorized: $_____________

Exp. date (mo/yr): _________ CVV # ________ (3-digit number on back of card) *AmEx is 4 nos on frontName on card (print): ___________________________________ Card Number: ___________________________________

Multiple Years (save $5/year): ___$90 (2 yrs), ___ $135 (3 yrs), ___ $180 (4 yrs), ___$225 (5 yrs)

Prefer to fish from ( check all that apply):

Own Boat: Length:___ ft Maker/Type:_____________ Boat Name:_______________ Docked at:__________ Rocks & Piers Charter Boats Party Boats Fly Fishing Surfcasting Other _________________

LastMiddle InitialFirstName: __________________________________________________ Age: _____ Spouse Name: _________________

Home Phone: _____________ Cell Phone: ____________ E-mail:______________________Put me on RISAA e-mail list:

yes no thanks

Children (up to 17 yrs):___________________________________________You can register them as Junior Members (free)

no thanks yes (complete below)

INFORMATION

Friend Tackle Shop Facebook News article RISAA Newsletter Fishing Show Web site Saw Advertisement at - Internet Magazine Newspaper TV

How did you hear about RISAA?

Student (college/trade school): $25/year (max 6 yrs) -requires copy of current student ID card Life Member: $500 (one time, single payment)

Junior's Name: (print)_______________________________________ Age:_____ Date of Birth: ____________/ /Junior's Name: (print)_______________________________________ Age:_____ Date of Birth: ____________/ /

- 47 - R.I.S.A.A. / November, 2019

Senior (Age 65+): $25/year - req date of birth: ____/_____ or prefer ___$50 (2 yrs) ___$75 (3 yrs)

P.O. Box 1465Coventry, RI 02816

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage Paid

Coventry, RIPermit No. 247

NOVEMBER, 2019

The Voice of Southern New England Fishermen

Anglers Will Face "Slot Limit" for Striped Bass in 2020-2021

Documents

Transcript of Anglers Will Face "Slot Limit" for Striped Bass in 2020-2021