PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management today filed new regulations governing the Rhode Island recreational striped bass fishery for 2015. They establish a bag limit of one striped bass per person per day, at a 28-inch minimum size. The season will be open year-round.
DEM Director Janet Coit based today's decision on the need to protect the health and future of the striped bass population. "Faced with the stark reality of a declining population, I am compelled to take strong action, consistent with our neighboring states, to reverse the decline and restore the striped bass fishery to a more robust and sustainable status," said Coit.
Atlantic striped bass are a premier gamefish, as well as an important commercial species - in Rhode Island and up and down the coast. The crash of the stock in the 1970s, subsequent rebound, and current decline form the backdrop for today's action.
The most recent benchmark stock assessment, conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), found that, since 2006, the spawning stock biomass (SSB) of striped bass along the Atlantic coast has been steadily declining. As of 2012, SSB had fallen below the management target and was approaching the overfished threshold. In response, the ASMFC took action, requiring all coastal states to implement management programs that reduce fishing mortality to the management target within one year.
For the recreational fishery, the ASMFC adopted a new coastwide regulatory standard of one fish per person per day, and a 28-inch minimum size. This was a reduction from the previous coastwide regulatory standard of two fish per person per day, and a 28-inch minimum size. On a coastwide basis, the new standard is projected to achieve a 31 percent harvest reduction from 2013 levels. The ASMFC's management program allows for state-by-state conservation equivalency (C/E). As such, states may propose individual state programs that are conservationally equivalent to the coastwide regulatory standard.
DEM and other members of Rhode Island's ASMFC delegation strongly supported the development of a C/E proposal, as a management option, to address the interests of Rhode Island's for-hire industry. Rhode Island's C/E proposal set forth a separate regulatory standard of two fish per person per day, with a 32-inch minimum size, applicable to all individuals fishing aboard RI-licensed charter and party boats. Coupled with the one-fish-per-day-at-28-inch standard applied to all other recreational fishermen, this proposal was projected to achieve a 29 percent harvest reduction for Rhode Island.
From mid-January of this year through early March, DEM conducted an intensive public review process, focused on an evaluation of the two management options: adoption of the C/E proposal versus adoption of the coastwide standard for all recreational fishermen. Hundreds of public comments were offered, many in support of the C/E proposal, many others in support of the coastwide standard. On March 2, the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council voted 5-3 to recommend adoption of the C/E proposal.
In reaching her final decision, Director Coit reviewed the entire public record, with a particular focus on five key factors: resource conservation, risk, enforceability, compliance, and equity. While the record included compelling justifications both for and against the two options, Director Coit found that the arguments in favor of taking a more risk-averse approach applicable to all Rhode Island recreational fishermen outweighed the case for including the two-fish option applicable to Rhode Island's for-hire industry.
"In acting to protect the health of the resource, I seek to protect the long-term interests of all fishermen, including those in the for-hire industry, who rely upon striped bass for recreation, food, and employment," said Coit.
Director Coit said that in many ways, this has been the most challenging marine fisheries issue that she has faced as Director. "The Department heard from hundreds of men and women who love to fish in Rhode Island. The passion and enthusiasm for stripers and fishing is overwhelming. Rhode Island's recreational fishing is world class, and we want to keep promoting our outstanding marine resources, our party and charter businesses, and the many jobs associated with this fishery," said Coit.
Looking ahead, Director Coit said she intends to work closely with the for-hire industry to pursue separate for-hire quotas for the various fisheries that are important to their operations, with a view to enabling the industry to remain strong and viable.
The regulations are available on DEM's website at http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwild/mfsizes.htm.