DEM TO HOLD OCTOBER 16 PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO STATE COMMERCIAL FISHING LICENSING REGULATIONS

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News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462

For Release:	September 19, 2006
Contact:	Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402 Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418

DEM TO HOLD OCTOBER 16 PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO STATE COMMERCIAL FISHING LICENSING REGULATIONS
Proposed Changes Include Recommendation to Issue 15 New Quahog Licenses in 2007

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that a public hearing will be held on Monday, October 16, on proposed changes to the state's commercial fishing licensing regulations. The hearing will also cover proposed changes to the state's management plans for the shellfish, finfish, and crustacean sectors, upon which the licensing regulations are based. The revised regulations will govern the issuance of licenses and endorsements for the 2007 calendar year.

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 hearing will include a presentation on the proposed changes by DEM staff.

With regard to the quahog fishery, DEM is proposing to maintain the 3:1 exit/entry ratio and, in accordance with that ratio, issue 16 new quahog endorsements on commercial fishing licenses for 2007. The proposal is based on the most recent stock assessment for the Narragansett Bay quahog resource, which found that biomass has been relatively constant since the mid 1990s, while fishing mortality rates have dropped over the past six years. Accordingly, DEM finds that the fishery can withstand a modest increase in effort through the issuance of new quahog endorsements. Applying the 3:1 ratio to the 46 principal effort license holders eligible to fish for quahogs who did not renew in 2006 results in the proposed availability of 15 new quahog endorsements for 2007.

With regard to the finfish fisheries, DEM is not proposing to issue any new restricted finfish endorsements for 2007. The quotas allocated to Rhode Island for several of the major species in the category (scup, black sea bass, and summer flounder) are slated to be reduced in 2007. To guard against increasing effort on decreasing quotas, DEM is proposing to hold the line on new entry into the restricted finfish fisheries.

With regard to the lobster fishery, DEM is also not proposing to issue any new lobster endorsements for 2007. The local lobster resource has undergone a decline in abundance and fishery performance. Regional mandates in the recent past have obligated Rhode Island to impose significant restrictions on current license holders. These factors underlie DEM's recommendation not to issue any new licenses in the lobster fishery at this time.

The draft regulations include several technical changes and one substantive change — a proposal to ease an existing restriction for obtaining a new license upon the purchase of a vessel and gear from a retiring license holder.

The draft regulations and management plans are available on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on "Marine Fisheries" under "Topics", and then clicking on "Public Hearing 10/16/06"at the left side of the page. Copies of the documents are also available at DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife in the Stedman Government Center in Wakefield and at the Division's marine fisheries office at Fort Wetherill in Jamestown.

In lieu of submitting comments at the hearing, written comments may be submitted to DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife, 3 Fort Wetherill Rd., Jamestown, RI 02835 no later than 12 p.m. on October 16, 2006.

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