Anthony Mecurio Jr. from Coventry RI with a fine brace of
fluke he buck tailed onto the deck of the Gail Frances party boat last week.
Michael Fotiades of Narragansett,
RI with squid caught last week on a recent RISAA trip. His son George is in the background.
House
bill would weaken fisheries act
The Magnuson–Stevens Act (MSA) is the
primary law governing recreational and commercial marine fisheries management in the United States.
It was originally enacted as the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of
1976 and amended many times. The two
recent amendments were the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 and then the MSA
of 2006.
The supporters of this version or the
reauthorization bill, which was authored by Alaska Congressman Don Young
(R-AK), stated in a support letter that the bill will maintain the successful
aspects of fisheries management under Magnuson-Stevens, while providing
much-needed flexibility and economic relief to hard-working fishing
communities.
According to Save Our Seafood (a seafood industry advocacy group comprised of
commercial fish processors, fish brokers and boat owners), the support letter
was sent last week to the House Natural Resources Committee Chair. In a press release this week, Save Our
Seafood said, “supporters of H.R. 1335 believe the bill will strike the
appropriate ‘balance’ between addressing the ecological needs of fish stocks,
the conservation goals of management, and the economic needs of fishing
communities that are not being met by the current Act's rigid stock rebuilding
requirements.”
However, there are two sides to every
story. Conservation minded fishermen and
conservation groups throughout the country (including Pew Charitable Trusts and
the Environmental Defense Fund) feel that this bill if passed will reverse much
of the good that the MSA currently provides our fisheries.
Last year US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI
and our congressional delegation, held an fisherman’s input session at the URI
Bay Campus. At that meeting Rhode Island
fishermen and Janet Coit, director of the RI Department of Environmental
Management, testified in support of Magnuson-Stevens saying it has rebuilt many
of our fish stocks and much of it should be left intact when it is
reauthorized.
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Meeting
attendees complemented the MSA for establishing Allowable Catch Limits
(ACLs) that facilitated the rebuilding of fish stocks.
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In an issue brief
(pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis)
Pew Charitable Trusts said, “(The
bill) would significantly undercut the nation’s progress in preventing
overfishing and rebuilding depleted fish populations. This shortsighted
legislation would undermine the act’s core conservation provisions,
jeopardizing the gains made in rebuilding and sustainably managing U.S. fish
populations. It also would fail to advance a comprehensive approach to fishery
management.”
Pew continued to say, “The Magnuson-Stevens Act
should be updated in a way that promotes a comprehensive, 21st-century approach
to managing the nation’s fisheries. But H.R. 1335 would move the country in the
wrong direction, threatening the health of U.S. oceans and fish populations.”
NOAA seeks sanctuary volunteers
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NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is seeking applicants
with recreational fishing expertise to fill vacant seats on its advisory
councils at Flower Garden Banks, Monitor and Stellwagen Bank national
marine sanctuaries.
It is vitally important that recreational anglers participate in
sanctuary advisory panels as their point of view is not often heard due to
a lack of participation. The recent
New England Council vote on allowing recreational fishing in the Stellwagen
Bank Sanctuary area was critical to recreational fishing and the charter
fishing industry. It demonstrates the importance of angler participation on
these sanctuary panels.
A sanctuary advisory council is a community-based advisory group
with representatives from various user groups, government agencies, and the
public at large. The role of the council is to provide advice to the
sanctuary superintendent on the designation and/or operation of a national
marine sanctuary. Council members include fishers, divers, teachers,
boaters, business people, activists, protected area managers, scientists,
and elected officials. A successful candidate for the positions noted above
will advise the sanctuary superintendent on the recreational fishing
perspective. Nominations are due June 30. For information contact Russell Dunn, NOAA National Policy Advisor for Recreational Fisheries at Russell.Dunn@noaa.gov or 727.551.5740.
Where's the bite
“Cod fishing at the East Fishing grounds has been fair when anglers
have been able to get there. Anglers are catching shorts with keepers mixed
in.” said Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown.
Striped bass. “Keeper bass are being caught with tube and worm and
with chunks of Atlantic menhaden in the East Passage near Bear Point, Prudence
Island.” said Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick. On RISAA‘s blog
angler Bob Malouin said, “We motored
over to Conimicut Light (Saturday). We didn't have any success throwing plugs
and I was marking bass so around 0730 I decided to live line a pogy. In
less than a minute I hooked into and ended up landing a 30 pound bass.
After letting her go we ended up landing four more cookie cutter fish around
30". All fish were caught on live pogies directly south of Conimicut
light.” “We weighed in a couple
of nice fish, not particularly big but in the 33” to 34” range. Anglers are catching fish with top water
lures such as SlugGo and Cohoes. Some anglers
are live lining and chucking pogies.” said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait &
Tackle, Warren. “The worm hatch in Potter and Salt Ponds has been good with
anglers landing bass there but things are pretty slow out in front.” Said Al
Conti of Snug Harbor. No bass report
from Block Island yet.
Summer flounder (fluke) fishing is picking up. “They are catching fluke right off Warwick
Light.” said Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick. This is the third spring in a row that we
will have had a decent fluke bite at Warwick Light. This spot has not been this active in years. Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina said,
“Customers are landing fluke and it is going to get better as the water warms.
We had a 9.9 pound fluke caught along the coastal shore and a 10 pound fish
caught on the Southwest side of Block Island but the bite has been very soft…
the fish are still lethargic due to the cold water. As it heats up this week the fluke fishing
should improve.” Angler Mike Swain of Coventry said, “We are landing fluke off
Jamestown and Newport with a three to one keeper ratio.” Roger Simpson of the
Francis Fleet said, “We are catching fluke both on half and full day trips. Fish were spread out better around
the boat on some days verses others. Those with experience using buck tails
seemed to still have an edge over those using bait rigs on most outings. Always
be prepared to fish both.” John Stavrakas said, “We arrived at the NW corner of Block Island (NE of "duck
head") to find a fleet of boats working. The day started with a light
westerly breeze and ended with a steady 15 knots gusting to 25. We worked the
incoming tide for a half dozen keepers to 24" and twenty or so shorts. We
were using 4/0 circle hooks with a buck tail skirt tipped with squid and
spearing. Pink seemed to out fish white and green.”
Tautog season closes May 31.
However, if you can get out before then it might be worth a try as
keeper tautog are being caught. Many Macedo or Lucky Bait said, “We have and 22”
and 24” fish caught by customers this past week. Don’t get me wrong, they are catching a lot
of shorts by keepers are mixed in. Their
bait of choice this spring seems to be crabs rather than worms.”
Squid fishing has improved. “Customers are landing big tubes not
just in Newport but they have traveled up the Sakonnet and all the way up to
Bristol.” said Manny Macedo or Lucky Bait.
I fished the Frances Fleet Saturday night and it was a slow pick. Top angler caught nineteen squid. Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said, “Wednesday night was the best last
week with generally one half to one full bucket per angler. Friday night was
right behind with quite a few anglers doing one half to three quarters of a
bucket and just a handful of fishers doing 20-30 pieces. Thursday and Saturday
nights were slower with hi hooks both nights doing 30-40 pieces with most
having less.” Angler Kevin Robishaw said, “Headed out last night (Saturday) aboard the Frances fleet
for squid on the RISAA charter. Went out in front by Nebraska Shoal and
anchored. Squid were coming over rail on first drop for me in the bow. This tapered
off quickly and it was a pick all night for most in the boat. I never figured
out a particular color or depth. I seemed to get them off bottom 4-5 feet but
never really keyed in on them. I believe most people got at least a few. I got
10 tubes and between three of us in bow we got maybe a third of bucket full.”
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