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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 ANNOUNCES OPENING OF SEVERAL SHELLFISH MANAGEMENT AREAS PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management will re-open several shellfish management areas to commercial harvest at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, December 14. The holiday season is economically important to commercial shellfishermen because of high consumer demand for traditional holiday shellfish meals.Areas to open are: the Bissel Cove/Fox Island Management Area and High Banks Management Area, both in North Kingstown, Bristol Management Area and Mill Gut Management Area, both in Bristol, and Potowomut Management Area A in Warwick and North Kingstown. Those areas will be open to shellfishing from a boat from 8 a.m. until noon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays through April 30. There is a daily catch limit of three bushels per day per license holder. Individual boats may have a maximum of two licensed shellfishermen with a combined limit of six bushels. Greenwich Bay Management Area, which was also scheduled to open, will remain closed due to recent storms. Potowomut Spawner Sanctuary (Area B) at the mouth of Greenwich Bay and north of High Banks Management Area remains closed to shellfishing to protect valuable broodstock. Bissel Cove/Fox Island Management Area shellfish stocks are at reduced levels because DEM, in consultation with the shellfish industry, opened the management area from October 24 through November 5 under emergency regulation since 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 emergency opening 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. Additional information is available by calling Dennis Erkan at 423-1932. Information on shellfish regulations and maps are also available at DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on "Regulations" and/or "Maps". Bay closure information can be obtained by calling DEM's bay closure information line at 222-2900. -30- |
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