Please be advised that the following regulations have been filed for amendment resulting from the public hearing held on September 11th and RI Marine Fisheries Council meeting held on October 2nd:
- Part 2 – Commercial Marine Fishing Licenses, Landing Permits, and Party and Charter Licenses (effective Jan. 1, 2024):
- Added “marine species other than shellfish and crustacean” to the Unlimited and Limited Finfish endorsement to provide for the commercial harvest and sale of marine species other than finfish, shellfish, and crustacean; e.g., kelp
- Deleted fee for Standard Resident License with three (3) unlimited fishery endorsements (license no longer available since licensing restructure)
- Specified that the Mid-Water/Pair Trawl Endorsement Division is not available for issuance while midwater trawling is prohibited in state waters
- Amended the exit:entry ratio for the issuance of a Standard license with Unlimited Finfish endorsement from 1:1 to 2:1, resulting in the availability of eighteen (18) endorsements for 2024
- Amended the exit:entry ratio for the issuance of a Standard license with Unlimited Shellfish endorsement from 1:1 to 3:1, resulting in the availability of forty-six (46) endorsements for 2024
- Rule amended to provide for the issuance of fifteen (15) Multipurpose Vessel Licenses with additional eligibility restrictions (additional details provided in the Director’s decision memo and the final rule)
- Part 7 – Dealers (effective Nov. 20, 2023):
- Rule amended to specify that tautog cannot be sold, purchased, bartered, or traded in Rhode Island unless a tautog tag issued by the Director has been affixed to the left opercula bone with the tag number displayed, consistent with harvester tautog tagging requirements
- Rule amended to delete summer flounder packaging requirements
- Rule amended to delete rule that striped bass may not be purchased and/or offered for sale if the entire right pectoral fin has been removed. With new recreational slot limit recently adopted there is no longer an overlap and the rule is no longer needed
Please click on the links to the rules provided above; go to tab “Rulemaking Documents” to view all filing documents, including the Directors decision memo (also attached) and final rules.
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DecMemo_Sept2023PH.pdf