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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 HOLD HEARING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 ON HARVEST LEVELS FOR NEW COMMERCIAL FINFISH LICENSES PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that a public hearing will be held on Thursday, December 9th on a proposed change to the state commercial fishing license regulations regarding harvest levels for finfish. The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. at the Corless Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island's Bay Campus on South Ferry Road in Narragansett. The December meeting of the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council will be held immediately following.Although a number of proposed changes to the commercial fishing license regulations were presented at a public hearing on October 4, and have since been promulgated, DEM is seeking further comment regarding one section: Rule 8 - Harvest and Gear Levels 2005, section 8.2-5 - Restricted Finfish, which pertain to the "basic" harvest levels of restricted finfish for entry-level fishing licenses. In accordance with the recently promulgated regulations for the licensing program and the soon-to-be amended Management Plan for the Finfish Fishery Sector, 13 new commercial fishing licenses with restricted finfish endorsements will be made available in 2005. The basic harvest levels associated with those 13 new licenses - applicable to summer flounder, scup, striped bass, tautog, black sea bass, and winter flounder - are the subject of the December 9 public hearing. The draft proposal by DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife is to set the "basic" harvest levels for the six species at 50 percent of the possession limits applicable to the "full" harvest levels for the species. These "full" harvest levels currently apply to all holders of Multipurpose licenses and Principal Effort licenses with Restricted Finfish endorsements. Written comments on the proposed regulation may also be submitted to DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife, 3 Fort Wetherill Road, Jamestown, RI 02809 by noon on December 9th. The proposed regulation and other pertinent information is available on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on "Marine Fisheries" under "Topics", then clicking on applicable buttons at the left of the page. Copies of the proposed regulation are also available at DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife in the Stedman Government Center at 4808 Tower Hill Road in Wakefield and at the Department's Marine Fisheries office at Fort Wetherill in Jamestown. -30- |
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rev. 2/14/05