The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, representing nine states including Rhode Island, last week submitted comments in support of proposed carbon pollution rules for existing power plants to the United...
Do artificial reefs enhance the biomass of fish species, or do they just provide a place for existing fish to congregate?
If reefs congregate fish, does this increase rates of exploitation by predators (including fishermen)?
And what about the Bay? Could artificial reefs provide a haven for bait and shelter for fish, and therefore enhance Bay fishing?
These are some of the questions a new, well-funded reef experiment in Narragansett and Mt. Hope Bays hopes to answer.
Nicole Lengyel, principal biologist at the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM), is managing a new reef project in collaboration with D. Steven Brown, coastal restoration scientist for The Nature Conservancy.
The five-year project started in 2013 and includes the planning, design, construction and monitoring of small-scale experimental reefs in the middle of Narragansett Bay. It aims to evaluate the use of reefs as an enhancement and conservation tool. The project will try to determine whether artificial reefs increase the abundance of sport fish such as tautog, black sea bass, scup and cunner (chogee), or whether they attract existing numbers of fish and increase rates of exploitation (mortality).
The project will cost approximately $715,760. Seventy-five percent of the money will come from the federal Sport Fish Restoration Fund, with a 25-percent match from The Nature Conservancy and from the sale of Rhode Island recreational saltwater fishing licenses.
At a RI Saltwater Anglers Association meeting, Brown from The Nature Conservancy said, “The goal of the project is to conduct a study, an experiment, to assess small-scale reefs to determine if they increase recruitment, increase fish productivity and see what benefits reefs will have for RI.”
“We want to attract fish and provide refuge to offset mortality and to improve growth rates," Lengyel said. "We hope this approach grows fish.”
Three locations with similar bottom sediment types, water depth and slope will be used for the experiments. Each site design will mimic a low-profile boulder field and contain approximately 1,120 reef balls of various sizes for a total coverage area of 2,730 square feet. An elaborate site model was used to locate the experimental artificial reefs. Water depth, bottom sediment type and water oxygen levels were plotted on Bay maps. The model overlaid the location of shellfish beds, eel and widgeon grass, and boat traffic in the Bay to identify suitable areas for reefs.
Two of the three sites are in the East Passage of Narragansett Bay, on the northwest coast of Aquidneck Island, east of Prudence Island. The third is just inside Mt. Hope Bay, northeast of the Mt. Hope Bridge.
Construction is scheduled to be completed by mid-2014. An extensive monitoring and evaluation period will take place from 2014 to 2017 with annual reports to DEM and the fishing community given each year.
Growing fish stocks, rather than just regulating them, is the type of proactive project we need. The hope is that reefs will not only concentrate fish, but will help expand stocks and grow fish.Where’s the bite
Cod: Last week, Bob Morel, of the vessel TLC, landed 22 cod to 33 pounds while fishing with his party south of Block Island on a wreck, said Elisa Martin of Snug Harbor Marina, in South Kingstown.
Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet reported that cod/sea bass and tautog trips showed marked signs of improvement after the waters were shaken up from the southerly gales the week before.
Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said, “A few handfuls of sea bass in the 3.5- to 5-pound range this past week, so still some jumbos around. The ling were generally on the fair size, but there were some mini-baseball bats mixed in, and on a few outings anglers had upwards to a half-dozen ling apiece.”
Ling are long slender members of the cod family that can be as large as two meters; they are good eating and often interchanged with cod in fresh, salted or dried forms.
Tautog anglers and captains are moving to find them. The Seven B’s party boat reported a slow, steady pick of tautog Wednesday.
“The Island Current party boat had a good tautog fishing trip Friday, with some passages limiting out,” said Martin. “They were fishing the Clay Head, Block Island area.”
Capt. Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters fished several spots around Block Island and the East Fishing grounds Saturday. “I then decided to try a spot located just south of Point Judith, which has been producing black fish quite well lately,” he said. “As luck would have it, the blacks were there in numbers and feeding for the next half-hour. This stop made the day for us.”
Capt. Dave Monti has been fishing and shellfishing on Narragansett Bay for more than 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.org to report fishing news and submit photos.