No Fluke

Save the Sound puts positive spin on Atlantic Menhaden Board decision

Captain Dave Monti
Posted 5/13/15

In a sixteen to one vote the Atlantic menhaden board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) approved a 10% increase (a total of 187,880 metric tons) in Total Allowable Catch (TAC) …

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No Fluke

Save the Sound puts positive spin on Atlantic Menhaden Board decision

Posted

In a sixteen to one vote the Atlantic menhaden board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) approved a 10% increase (a total of 187,880 metric tons) in Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

The Atlantic menhaden vote, which occurred last Tuesday at the ASMFC spring meeting, included Rhode Island representatives supporting and voting for 10% more Atlantic menhaden to be taken from coastal waters.

In an announcement last week, Save the Sound, a Long Island Sound conservation group from Connecticut said, "The ASMFC also pledged to use menhaden's role in the marine ecosystem as a guide for future management, and to review how the Total Allowable Catch is divided, potentially looking to allocate bait fishermen a larger share. All three of the decisions are big wins for menhaden, and forage fish as a whole, including Atlantic herring. The new regulations have been praised from all sides, and are considered a worthy compromise among commercial fishers, conservationists, and regulators."

Narrgansett Trout

Unlimited to hold

May meeting

The Narragansett Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU225) will host their monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 27, 2015, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Deer Check Station, Arcadia Management Area, Exeter, RI. Members and guests will watch veteran fly tiers tie flies for the June hatches. We also will have equipment available to calibrate water thermometers for anyone wishing to assure the accuracy of their thermal monitoring equipment. Participants may fish before or after the meeting. Contact Ron Marafioti, president, with questions at (401) 463-6162.

Learn how to 'Jig and pop' at RISAA meeting

The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association will host Capt. Jack Sprengel and his team from East Coast Charters to talk about RonZ Lures and then share their approach to Rhode Island inshore and offshore fishing on Monday, May 18, 7:00 p.m. The presentation will address their exciting "Jig and Pop" approach to the sport, placing more emphasis on the physicality and skill sets of the individual angler as much as it does on the efforts of the captain and crew. Capt. Jack will also cover the most successful methods for trolling, chumming, chunking and rigging for all offshore species targeted in our waters. Non members welcome with a $10 donation to RISAA's Scholarship Fund. RISAA members attend free. Dinner served by the West Valley Inn starting at 5:30 p.m., not included in admission. Visit www.risa.org for details.

MRIP to incorporate

improved data into stock assessments

NOAA's Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) last week announced a comprehensive, three-year Transition Plan for incorporating estimates from the new mail-based Fishing Effort Survey (FES) into stock assessments and management decisions. The FES will be replacing the Coastal Household Telephone Survey (CHTS) to measure saltwater recreational fishing effort in shore and private boat modes on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

This is important to Rhode Island and other coastal states because they have long been plagued with limited recreational catch and effort data that some believe draws unrealistic conclusions and projections on the condition of various fisheries. For example the assessment of the black sea bass fishery and subsequent fishing regulations have often been made with just a few fish in the survey, which has led to inaccurate and unrealistic conclusions.

The transition plan outlines a detailed three-year process for shifting to the FES estimates for stock assessments and management decisions. During the transition, the FES and the CHTS will be conducted concurrently. This side-by-side benchmarking will allow an "apples-to-apples" comparison and enable us to develop a calibration model to convert historical time series of catch from old to new numbers.

Transition Plan and more information about the new survey method can be found at www.countmyfish.noaa.gov. Additionally, anglers way attend of two webinars:

Monday May 18, 2015 - 12-1:00 p.m. (EDT); https://noaast.adobeconnect.com/festransition_5-18-15; Call in and audio information: 888-790-1895; password code: 8941907.

Thursday May 21, 2015 - 12-1:00 p.m. (EDT); https://noaast.adobeconnect.com/festransition_5-21-15;

Call in and audio information: 888-790-1895; password code: 8941907.

New regions

and reference points

for tautog

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) Tautog Management Board has approved the development of an amendment to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog. The amendment will explore the establishment of new regional stock areas and associated reference points.

The decision to move to regions was predicated on some pretty glooming news from the new 2015 tautog assessment. The amendment will propose two options for regional stock boundaries, each with three regional stock units. The first option will include the following regions: Massachusetts to Rhode Island, Connecticut to New Jersey, and Delaware to North Carolina. The second option will include Massachusetts to Connecticut, New York to New Jersey, and Delaware to North Carolina.

Unlike previous assessments, which assessed the stock on a coastwide basis, the 2015 assessment evaluated stock status regionally to reflect differences in life history characteristics and harvest patterns. The three-region approach balances a smaller geographical scale and data integrity, while also reducing the risk of overfishing.

As the first step in the amendment process, staff will begin to draft a Public Information Document for Board consideration at the Commission's Summer Meeting in August. The PID will gather information concerning the tautog fishery and resource and provide an opportunity for the public to identify and comment on major issues relative to the management of this species. The PID will also seek input on the public's preferred regional breakdown. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Where's the bite

Freshwater fishing remains strong. John Migliori caught his first golden trout in Melville Pond, Portsmouth last week. The 12" golden trout is a strain of rainbow trout that is gold in color. This year, the hatcheries stocked them at six ponds throughout the state. Ponds receiving the golden trout include Peck Pond, Burrillville; Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown; Barber Pond, South Kingstown; Browning Mill Pond, Exeter; Upper Melville, Portsmouth; and Lake Tiogue, Coventry. Anglers who catch a golden trout will be given a free golden trout pin. Take a picture of your catch and send it to Kimberly Sullivan of DEM's Aquatic Resource Education program at Kimberly.Sullivan@dem.ri.gov.

Squid fishing remains spotty. Capt. Frank Blount of the Francis Fleet said, "We started both fluke and squid trips this past weekend. Squid fishing Saturday night was okay. A slow pick of nice size tubes with hi hooks collecting upwards of a couple dozen pieces apiece. A respectable start considering the first few waves of squid have only just moved in." "Squid reports are still coming in from the Newport area." said Many Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren.

Tautog fishing remains fair. Angler Travis Barao said, "Fished for tautog off Tiverton (Saturday) for about three to four hours moving around constantly. Had one keeper tog that I let go. Fished everything from 20-40 feet of water. Headed down off Newport. Fished near the #2 can in 45 feet of water. Nothing. Moved in near Castle Hill where there was another boat. Nothing again." "We had a 22" fish caught off Sugar Reef but tautog fish is not hot like the bass fishing.", said Capt. Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown. "Ken Landry landed a six pound fish in the Hope Island area. Anglers are using green crabs, worms and jigs." said Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle, Warwick. Manny Macedo of Lucky's Bait said, "Keeper tautog are now being caught in the Warren River and in Bristol off Independence Park."

Striped bass fishing continued to explode this week as the water warmed and a volume of bait fish came into our Bays. I caught my first striped bass of the season Saturday in Greenwich Cove standing in about three feet of water in front of the Godard Park boat ramp. I was using a Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow. Many anglers were successfully using worms and others fished well with soft plastics such as Al Gag's Lures and Slug-Gos. Anglers fishing the area in kayaks landed several school bass before 6:30 a.m. at low tide before the bite shut down. Capt. Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown said, "Things were red hot last week and this weekend. Friday a load of bass in the 18" to 26" moved into the (South County) beaches and Sunday they moved into Ninigret Pond with six to eight keepers being caught. Sunday we had the start of a worm hatch near Ocean House Marina." Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle, Warwick said, "A large number of school bass moved into Greenwich and Apponaug Coves, the northern side of Greenwich Bay, off Barrington Beach, Seminary Cove, Warwick and a customer caught two keepers in the Providence River using pogies as bait. Most of the school bass are on the surface with anglers using worms and plastic baits like Storm Shads." "One customer caught two keepers the largest was 34" at Colt State Park at night." said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait. Last week noted local fly fisherman Ed Lombardo said, "We fished Narrow River on an outgoing tide from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. We did well and took striped bass close to the month of the River compared to a few weeks ago when they were up river. Ed's shrimp in dark burgundy body, dark olive marabou tail, and wing of bright green flashabou did very well. Some of the fish also took worm flies."

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain's master license and a charter fishing license. Contact or forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit his website at www.noflukefishing.com.

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