Hats off to president Obama for tackling the oceans and the environment in addition to two wars, the worst economy in years, national health care reform and much, much more.

An interim report has been issued by president Obama’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. The task force is recommending some bold steps to insure the well-being of our oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes for now and in the future.

The report in its entirety can be found on the Whitehouse Web site at www.whitehouse.gov , search for the report by its title, “Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force”. The report does not reference recreational fishing uses. But it does suggests spatial planning for oceans and advocates for ecosystem-based management, all of which have raised red flags in the recreational fishing community.

The 38 page report relates proposed policy areas for its agenda and a number of organizational recommendations on how to get the job done. The Task Force recommends the following nine priority objectives.

• Ecosystem-Based Management: Adopt ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for the comprehensive management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.

• Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning: Implement comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based coastal and marine spatial planning and management in the United States.

• Inform Decisions and Improve Understanding: Increase knowledge to continually inform and improve management and policy decisions and the capacity to respond to change and challenges. Better educate through formal and informal programs to inform the public about the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.

• Coordinate and Support: Better coordinate and support Federal, State, tribal, local, and regional management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. Improve coordination and integration across the Federal Government, and as appropriate, engage with the international community.

• Resiliency and Adaptation to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification: Strengthen resiliency of coastal communities and marine and Great Lakes environments and their abilities to adapt to climate change impacts and ocean acidification.

• Regional Ecosystem Protection and Restoration: Establish and implement an integrated ecosystem protection and restoration strategy that is science-based and aligns conservation and restoration goals at the Federal, State, tribal, local, and regional levels.

• Water Quality and Sustainable Practices on Land: Enhance water quality in the ocean, along our coasts, and in the Great Lakes by promoting and implementing sustainable practices on land.

• Changing Conditions in the Arctic: Address environmental stewardship needs in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent coastal areas in the face of climate-induced and other environmental changes.

• Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Observations and Infrastructure: Strengthen and integrate Federal and non-Federal ocean observing systems, sensors, and data collection platforms into a national system and integrate that system into international observation efforts.

So how do these policy objectives relate to recreational fisherman? No one knows right now and that has created some concern nationally and locally about the president’s new ocean polices.

Concerns from the recreational fishing community focus on the first objective (above), “ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for the compressive management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes”. The recreational fishing community is concerned about the absence of any reference in objectives (or the report) to the positive impact recreational anglers have on aquatic conservation. Concern over the consequences of spatial planning or zoning of waters could translate in restrictions such as the elimination of many popular recreational fishing areas. In a recent press release Gordon Robertson, vice president of the American Sport Fishing Association said, “Providing the angling public with access to public resources in no less important than conserving those resources”.

Robert Sexton, U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance vice president for government affairs said, “We hope the administration recognizes that sportsman are the greatest conservationists and will not accept any proposal shutting off large tracts of coastal territory to them.”

Local recreational fishing thought leaders agree. Captain John Rainone, president of the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association, said, “… this is a way to stop recreational and commercial fishing in any areas that the government and special interest groups deem necessary.” The recreational (and commercial) fishing communities feel that this is not a valid way to mange fisheries. “We are constantly put to the task of conserving fish stocks with large minimum sizes, smaller bag limits, shorter seasons and early closures”, said Rainone.

Richard Hitter, a member of the Rhode Island State Fisheries Council and a board member of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association said, “I agree with the idea of managing the oceans on an ecosystem basis rather than piece by piece as it is now done. I do worry though that the people in charge of the task force do not give recreational fishing the status that it deserves. We showed that in RI alone Recreational Fishing contributes over $160-million per year to the economy. “

So overall, the recreational fishing community welcomes policy changes that will enhance the fishery but are concerned about the lack of detail in the plan as it relates to recreational fishing.

Where’s the bite

Tautog. Effective October 17 through December 15 the catch limit on Tautog has increased to eight fish (from three fish). Tautog bite is good in the Bay and ocean. Keeper fish (16” and above) are being caught at the stone wall north of Coddington Cove, the Jamestown bridge lighthouse as well as on reefs and around the rocky coastline of Newport and Jamestown. Whale Rock and the south side of Dutch Island seem to be giving up some keeper sized Tautog as well. Craig Mancini of Continental Bait & Tackle in Cranston said his customers are busy fishing for Tautog but that the cold and windy weather toward the end of last week has slowed fishing in general.

Winter flounder (black back) season ends October 25. Catch limit is four and the minimum size is 12”. Summer flounder or fluke season runs until the end of the December 31.

Striped bass. Most shore anglers agree that striped bass fishing slowed this past week due to the cold weather. Peter Nilsen related seeing just a couple of caught fish as he made his rounds on the beaches. Harold Hemberger said he caught a few school bass and one keeper bass during a fishing outing at Bass Rock Road in Narragansett. All were caught using his favorite lure, a jointed needlefish. He said two ladies fishing next to him were landing bluefish like it was their job. They both were using Kastmasters with large buck tails. Christopher White caught five school bass at the mouth of Narrow River while fishing in a skiff last Tuesday. Seem to be a lot of school bass surface blitzing in lower Narragansett Bay and the blue fish are starting to thin out a bit. The striped bass bite is strong at sunrise until about 8:00 a.m. and then again at sunset and a few minutes beyond. Striped bass fishing on Block Island is still good with a lot of action on the beaches with needlefish plugs.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Your fishing stories, comments and questions are welcome… there’s more than one way to catch a fish so e-mail Captain Dave at ¬¬¬dmontifish@verizon.net.