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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 CLOSES BISSEL COVE - FOX ISLAND SHELLFISH MANAGEMENT AREA NOW THAT TRADITIONAL SHELLFISHING AREAS HAVE RE-OPENED PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that the Bissel Cove - Fox Island shellfish management area will be closed to shellfishing, effective Saturday, November 5. DEM, in consultation with the shellfish industry, opened the management area on October 24 under emergency regulation on a temporary basis because it was relatively unaffected by the deluge of rainfall in mid-October that resulted in the closure of a substantial area of Narragansett Bay to the taking of shellfish. The traditional shellfishing areas of the Bay that had been closed as a result of the October storm events have since reopened, eliminating the need to keep the Bissel Cove - Fox Island area open.The emergency opening of the management area helped to mitigate the severe financial hardship experienced by shellfishermen who lost access to all traditional shellfishing areas during the extensive closure. The opening proved quite popular: DEM estimates that on several days more than 60 fishers harvested shellfish in the area. Given that the area is a transplant area, it has a limited population of approximately 1,500 bushels of shellfish. Tomorrow's closure, which effectively does not affect shellfishers until Monday morning, is intended to guard against depleting that population and to preserve some additional harvesting opportunities at the site later in the year. -30- |
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