Please be advised the summary document for this proposed rulemaking has been modified to include an additional industry proposal regarding the regulation “Aggregate Programs for Summer Flounder and Black Sea Bass” that was inadvertently omitted; specifically regarding the aggregate possession limit for black sea bass (item # 12 below and attached)
Thank you
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
Please be advised that the Division of Marine Fisheries has publicly noticed the following regulation(s) to consider proposed amendments. Below describes the proposals under consideration. Please refer to the attached summary document and links to proposed rules below for specific details of the proposals
1. 2025 Recreational Striped Bass Management:
Ø Proposal 1 (Division/Noticed): Clarify how recreational striped bass total length shall be measured
2. 2025 Commercial General Category and Floating Fish Trap Striped Bass Management:
Ø Proposal 1 (Industry/Noticed): Amend the gill net prohibition for striped bass to allow for commercial harvest
Ø Proposal 2 (Industry): Change the General Category (GC) fishery for striped bass to Rod & Reel (RR). Harvest restricted to Rod & Reel only. Change all instances of “General Category” and “GC” to “Rod and Reel” or “RR”
Ø Proposal 3 (Industry): Change the quota allocations between general category and floating fish trap
Ø Proposal 4 (Industry): Amend the General Category season
Ø Proposal 5 (Industry): Remove the rollover provision from floating fish trap to general category and vice versa; provide for a gillnet allocation of striped bass
3. Commercial Menhaden Management:
Ø Proposal 1 (Industry/Noticed): Implement a weekly limit for menhaden regardless of the MMA status
Ø Proposal 2 (Industry): Implement a weekly limit for menhaden regardless of the MMA status
Ø Proposal 3 (Industry): Implement a bycatch limit for menhaden regardless of the MMA status
Ø Proposal 4 (Industry): Implement a weekly limit for menhaden regardless of the MMA status
Ø Proposal 5 (Industry): Increase the possession limit outside the MMA
4. 2025 Recreational Cobia Management:
Ø Proposal 1 (Division/Noticed): Increase the minimum size and bag limit for FMP compliance
Ø Proposal 1 (Division/Noticed): Deletion of redundant language
Ø Proposal 1 (Save the Bay/Noticed): Modify the existing spawning closure for the bait fishery; adopt a new spawning closure for the biomedical fishery; close several south shore coastal salt ponds to commercial biomedical harvest; and designate spawner sanctuaries to prohibit all harvest of horseshoe crabs
Ø Proposal 2 (Division/Noticed): Modify the reporting requirements for horseshoe crabs
Ø Alternate industry proposal: Do not implement the proposed spawning closure for horseshoe crabs as noticed or close all coastal salt ponds but modify current bait closure to a lunar bait closure.
7. Lobster LCMA 1 and LCMA 3 Management:
Ø Proposal 1 (Division/Noticed): Amend the rule such that lobster trap allocation holders in LCMA 1 and LCMA 3 are not eligible for routine gear loss tags. The proposed rule provides that LCMA 1 and 3 allocation holders may only order the number of trap tags equal to their authorized LTA. This proposal is to sync the rule and maintain compliance with the ASMFC Fisheries Management Plan for lobster
8. Lobster Minimum Size and Minimum Escape Vent Size Corrections:
Ø Proposal 1 (Division/Noticed): Correct the minimum sizes for lobster and/or minimum escape vent sizes for lobster pots in LCMAs 1, 5, 6, and Outer Cape Cod. This proposal is to sync the rule and maintain compliance with the ASMFC Fisheries Management Plan for lobster
Ø Proposal 1 (Division of Law Enforcement/Noticed): Clarify when and how dealers must account for marine species purchased from harvesters
Ø Proposal 1 (Industry/Noticed): Modify the aggregate program closure trigger for black sea bass from 85% to 70% in the summer/fall aggregate program
11. Summer/Fall Aggregate Program for Summer Flounder and Black Sea Bass – Closure Trigger for Summer Flounder:
Ø Proposal 1 (Industry/Noticed): Modify the aggregate program closure trigger for summer flounder from 85% to 70% in the summer/fall aggregate program
Ø Proposal 2 (Industry): Modify the aggregate program closure trigger for summer flounder from 85% to 80% in the summer/fall aggregate program
12. Summer/Fall Aggregate Program for Summer Flounder and Black Sea Bass – Possession limit for Black Sea Bass:
Ø Proposal 1 (Industry): Amend the aggregate (weekly) possession limit from 7X the daily limit to 6X the daily limit for the October 16 – December 31 subperiod; maintain the current 85% closure trigger
13. Aggregate Program for Summer Flounder and Black Sea Bass – Penalties for Non-compliance:
Ø Proposal 1 (Division/Noticed): Amend the penalties for non-compliance
14. Ninigret Pond-Foster Cove Sub-Area 1 and Ninigret Pond-Foster Cove Sub-Area 2 (Ninigret Pond Shellfish Management Area): See noticed rule for annotated language.
Ø Proposal 1 (Division/Noticed): Amend the area description and boundary of Ninigret Pond-Foster Cove Sub-Area 1 (closed area/oyster spawner sanctuary) add new locational coordinates for the boundary; eliminate Ninigret Pond-Foster Cove Sub-Area 2 and delete landmarks specific to this area
Please click on the rules above to link directly to the proposed rules. Interested parties are invited to submit comments concerning the proposed rules through March 7, 2025. Send comments by mail or email to:
Peter Duhamel
DEM Division of Marine Fisheries
3 Fort Wetherill Road, Jamestown, RI 02835
A PUBLIC HEARING is scheduled for Monday, February 17 Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 5:00pm.
In-person:
URI Bay Campus, Corless Auditorium
215 South Ferry Road, Narragansett
Virtual (Zoom): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89042049967?pwd=smXXlaWNvfdvIgb1zviteuYVobIJez.1 [us02web.zoom.us]
Meeting ID: 890 4204 9967
Passcode: 657491
Dial in #: 1-929-205-6099 (listen only)
Division staff are available to answer any questions.
For all public meetings please visit the Division’s calendar page here
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary_ProposedRulemaking_Feb2025_V2.pdf