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News Release RI Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
DEM TO STOCK TROUT AND ATLANTIC SALMON BROODSTOCK FOR ICE FISHING SEASON BEGINNING MONDAY, DECEMBER 15 PROVIDENCE -- The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish and Wildlife will conduct its 2003 winter trout stocking and surplus Atlantic salmon broodstock stocking program from Monday, December 15 through Wednesday, December 24.The Division of Fish and Wildlife will receive between five and eight hundred surplus domestic Atlantic salmon broodstock from the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Cooperative Northeast Atlantic Restoration Program and the Connecticut River Technical Committee. The eight to 20 pound fish from the White River Junction, VT and the North Attleboro, MA National Fish Hatcheries will be utilized in the Division's recreational fishing program. Anglers should note that the salmon could contain an internal tag that is used to identify and track the fish. When federal officials released those salmon to the ocean two years ago, some were tagged with a passive integrated transponder tag, or PIT tag, that transmits a code indicating when they return from the sea to spawn in their stream of origin. Tags are placed in the belly of the fish and in the muscle below the dorsal fin. The PIT tags, which consist of a microchip and copper wire enclosed in glass, are the size of a grain of rice and are non-toxic, notes John Stolgitis, Chief of the DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife. There is no need to notify state or federal fisheries officials of the presence of a tag in one of these fish, Stolgitis said, because federal officials already have the necessary data from the transponders. If a tag is found, it should just be discarded. Stocking locations include Olney Pond in Lincoln, Stafford Pond in Tiverton, Barber Pond in South Kingstown, Meadowbrook Pond in Richmond, and Carbuncle Pond in Coventry, along with the upper Wood River from Route 165 in Exeter and Richmond through Grantville in Hope Valley. DEM reminds anglers that a current fishing license and a trout conservation stamp are required to keep or possess a salmon. The daily creel and possession limit for domestic Atlantic salmon is two fish, which is counted as part of the daily trout limit. Before ice fishing, anglers should check with individual communities about safe ice conditions on local ponds. DEM does not monitor ice conditions in local communities. For ice conditions at Olney Pond, which is located in Lincoln Woods State Park, please call DEM's 24-hour ice safety hotline at 222-2632. Ice must have a uniform thickness of at least six inches before it is considered safe by DEM. It generally takes at least five to seven consecutive days of temperatures in the low 20s before ice may become safe. Even then, the strength of the ice is determined by a number of factors such as the size and depth of a pond, presence of springs or currents, and local temperature fluctuations. Additional ice safety information is available online at DEM's website at www.dem.ri.gov by clicking on Programs, then Parks and Recreation, then Ice Safety from the Parks' main page. -30- |
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