[Rimarinefisheries] CORRECTION – Quahog transplant – Thursday May 16th, 2024 – RIDEM REMINDER! – Rhode Island Commercial Rod and Reel Association

PLEASE SEE CORRECTION TO ORIGINAL NOTIFICATION UNDER BULLET THREE IN RED FONT

REMINDER

Greenwich Cove Quahog Transplant Into Greenwich Bay Shellfish Management Area and Bristol Harbor Shellfish Management Area

Thursday May 16^nd, 2024

The transplant will occur between 8 A.M. and 12 P.M. and bags will be handed out at RI Clam Co. (74 London St. East Greenwich) in Greenwich Cove along the dock. The bag limit will be determined by the number of participants on the day of the transplant with an initial handout of 20 bags per participant.

Participants will be paid $15 per 50-pound bag and will be responsible for dumping the clams into the respective receiving areas within the Greenwich Bay Shellfish Management Area (see map below for the two receiving area options).

Licensed shellfishers wishing to participate in the transplant should report to the on-scene DEM Enforcement officer by 8 A.M. located at the RI Clam Co. dock on the day of the transplant. The officers will collect licenses to facilitate accounting. Licenses will be returned after participants have dumped the quahogs into the receiving area and returned to RI Clam Co. for a final boat inspection.

Once participants have completed digging, they must return to the RI Clam Co. for a final bag count to ensure proper accounting. At this point bags from east bay sparticipant will be handed off to the lobster transport boat that will be docked at the RI Clam Co. These bags of quahogs will then be dumped into the Bristol Harbor Shellfish Management Area.

Once participants have had a bag count recorded by the Narragansett Bay Commission staff, they will be allowed to transit to either one of the two designated receiving areas within Greenwich Bay Shellfish Management Area (see map below). A DEM Enforcement boat will be patrolling the dumping of the quahogs.

PLEASE RETURN TO RI CLAM CO. AFTER DUMPING THE QUAHOGS FOR A FINAL BOAT INSPECTION AND LICENSE RETURN

The Narragansett Bay Commission will be paying the transplant participants and asks that anyone who has not participated in a transplant within the past three years to complete a W-9 form in advance to submit to their staff. Link to the form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf [irs.gov]

The transplanted shellfish dumped into the Greenwich Bay and Bristol Harbor Shellfish Management Areas will be unavailable for harvest until December 2024.

Below is a map of the transplant area with the boundary lines in red. Clams will be transplanted from Greenwich Cove north of a line that extends from Rhode Island Clam at 41.66N 71.44W (41° 39.62’N 071° 26.68’W) east across the cove to 41.66N 71.44W (41° 39.62’N 071° 26.51’W) and westerly and southerly of the closure line from the Department of Environmental Management range marker located on the northerly point of Long Point (41.67N 71.44W (41° 39.99’N 071° 26.48’W) to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management range marker located on the southerly point of Chepiwanoxet (Island 41.67N 71.44W (41° 40.35’N 071° 26.50’W) )

All harvested clams will be transplanted into two designated receiving beds (north and south) within the western section of 8A in waters greater than 5 feet (red hashed areas on the map). The northern dump location runs from Baxter Creek 41.69N 71.43W (41° 41.12’N 071° 26.04’W) to the end of Budlong Farm Rd 41.69N 71.43W (41° 41.11’N 071° 25.58’W) and out from shore to the southwest 41.68N 71.43W (41° 41.01’N 071° 26.04’W) and southeast 41.68N 71.43W (41° 41.01’N 071° 25.58’W) corners of the area. The southern dump location runs west of sally rock point 41.67N 71.43W (41° 40.26’N 071° 25.64’W) along the coast towards Goddard Memorial State Park Beach 41.67N 71.43W (41° 40.11’N 071° 25.88’W) and out from shore to the northwest 41.67N 71.43W (41° 40.23’N 071° 26.01’W) and northeast 41.67N 71.43W (41° 40.38’N 071° 25.77’W) corners of the area. Clams designated for the Potowomut Spawner Sanctuary will be dumped by the DEM Division of Law Enforcement and the Division of Marine Fisheries.