PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management has announced that effective Wednesday, August 9, the commercial black sea bass fishery will be closed to all gear types and that the commercial scup fishery will be closed to gear types other than floating traps.

The closures are necessary to keep Rhode Island within the assigned quotas allocated by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, while making the fish available to commercial fishermen and consumers throughout as much of the year as possible.

Based on currently reported catch rates, DEM projects that the applicable Rhode Island scup quota for the July 1 through September 15 sub-period (97,578 pounds) and the third quarter coast-wide federal allocation of black sea bass (273,155 pounds) will both be harvested by August 9.

The scup fishery will reopen on September 1, with a possession limit of 300 pounds per vessel until September 16, when it will be increased to 1,000 pounds per vessel. The black sea bass fishery will reopen on October 1 with a possession limit of 4,000 pounds.