PROVIDENCE - New regulations will go into effect tomorrow, Friday, September 10 that prohibit commercial fishermen from harvesting scup until November 1. The regulations were filed by the Department of Environmental Management today, in order to prevent the state from exceeding its 239,000 pound quota for scup caught by commercial fishermen.

Every year, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission assign catch quotas for scup harvested in Rhode Island and other east coast states. Quota management is designed to restore the scup stock to sustainable levels, and to provide a sustainable scup harvest for the future.

DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife monitored the harvest of scup throughout the summer, and found that commercial scup catches increased substantially in August.

The new regulations will only affect the commercial scup fishery. Recreational fishing for scup is still permitted.