In an unprecedented move, Rhode Island state legislatures moved ahead with regulations that should leave more trophy blackfish in the water in 2022. “I think this might be the first time in history that a state has taken a voluntary cut in fishing regulations,” said Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) President, Greg Vespe, “we feel that this is a big win for the fishery.”
By nearly all accounts, the fall season in 2021 was well above average with lots of big fish taken. “There were two 20-pounders taken in one day last fall,” Vespe laughed, “and one of them broke the state record!” But with the increase in action and landings of large fish came a spike in angler interest, especially with the lackluster albie showing we saw in 2021. A quick scroll through social media during the fall season showed a clear trend that tautog fishing was enjoying a new spot in the limelight of New England fishing.
RISAA’s original proposal sought a ‘one trophy’ limit, meaning that only one fish in an angler’s bag limit could exceed 21 inches, they also wanted to reduce the fall bag limit from five fish to four. All of these proposed regulations were approved in a vote back on March 7th, but the state overruled the bag limit reduction, saying that Massachusetts didn’t want to comply and that it might cause issues with ASMFC compliance as well. But the state upheld the ‘one trophy’ designation; the seasons will not change, nor will the minimum size, but anglers will only be allowed to have one blackfish, 21 inches or larger, in their possession at any time.
Rhode Island boasts some of the best tog terrain in the world and hosts a world-class fishery, “many of my clients travel to Rhode Island from New Jersey to fish for blackfish,” said Robbie Taylor, skipper of Newport Sportfishing Charters. It’s a wise move to protect this amazing fishery for these territorial and slow-growing fish. Keeping more of those ‘trophy genes’ in the water can only lead to a more robust stock in the future.
The seasons and limits had not been updated on the DEM website as of this writing, but the head DEM representative had approved the vote and the new laws. There was supposed to be ‘no change’ to the seasons which would leave the 2022 recreational blackfish regulations looking like this: Minimum size of 16 inches, only one fish per limit may be of 21 inches or greater and a 10 fish maximum per vessel during all open periods. April 1 to May 31, 3 fish per person per day. June 1 to July 31 – blackfishing will be closed. August 1 through October 14, 3 fish per angler per day. October 15 through December 31, 5 fish per person, per day.
Rhody Also Finalized Regs for Fluke & Sea Bass
The state also finalized decisions for two other fisheries. Catching a keeper fluke in 2022 will get a little easier, the state voted to decrease the minimum size from 19 inches to 18. Filling a limit will also get easier, sadly, the bag limit will also decrease from six fish in 2021 to four in 2022. The season will remain unchanged, opening May 3 and wrapping up on New Year’s Eve. RISAA tried to fight for one smaller fish to be included in that limit of four, “We wanted to see one short fish added to the limit,” Vespe told me, “because, at 18 inches, we’re only targeting females, but that didn’t pass.” Fluke fishing in Rhody has been subpar by most accounts for the last few seasons, hopefully we’ll see some positive results from these new management measures.
The new sea bass regulations should register as puzzling to anyone that spent any time bottom fishing in 2021. It would have been easy to convince anyone that the black sea bass was the most abundant fish in the sea—juvenile sea biscuits seemed to carpet inshore waters and larger fish were so easy to find that we had reports of schools of sea bass off of Block Island and Newport last year that were 30 feet thick and stretching out for hundreds of yards in every direction.
In spite of all this, Rhode Island anglers are going to take a substantial hit on sea bass. The bag limit will be reduced from five fish in 2021 to two fish in 2022, with a bump to three fish starting in September. In addition to the gutted bag limit, the minimum size will be increased from 15 to 16 inches. Charter boats will get a little boost in the fall with a six fish bag limit—exact dates were not available at the time of the writing. It would seem that something is not being considered in the numbers, but for now we have to rely on the science that’s available. No matter how you slice it, bottom fishing in Rhode Island will be a little different in 2022.
