August 14, 2013 — This week Rhode Island was granted a supplemental "episodic event" quota of Atlantic menhaden to keep our commercial fishery open in Rhode Island waters.
Last week Atlantic menhaden advisory panel members of the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council urged DEM fish managers and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission representatives to be more vocal about the low quota and demand more fish for Rhode Island.
State fish managers had applied to access an "episodic event" supplemental quota because we have so many Atlantic menhaden in our waters.
DEM issued the good news in the form of a regulation filing notice that the Atlantic menhaden commercial fishery was open "in state waters outside of the Narragansett Bay Menhaden Management Area at 120,000 pounds per vessel per day". This quota allocation is not permanent, but relieves the commercial menhaden fishery for now.