Fishing the wash; fish react to warmer water

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Learn how to fish for striped bass in the wash… the surf and waves on Tuesday, March 15, 6:30 p.m. at the Rhody Fly Rodders seminar Riverside Sportsman’s Association, 19 Mohawk Drive, East Providence. Capt. Eric Thomas of Teezer77 Guiding Services will explain how to fish for stripers in surf and breaking waves focusing on how to stay safe as you maneuver your boat and present your fly or lure to have the best chance to catch a striped bass. For information contact Peter Nilsen at pdfish@fullchannel.net.

ASMFC releases annual report

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) released its 2015 Annual Report to the public last month. The report can be found at www.asmfc.org.

The Annual Report describes the Commission’s activities and progress in carrying out its public trust responsibilities for the marine fisheries under Commission stewardship. This includes species commonly fished by recreational anglers in Rhode Island such as summer flounder, striped bass, black sea bass, tautog, Atlantic menhaden, scup and many others.

Included in the report are figures displaying the historical trends in stock status or landings for each species managed by the Commission.  Also provided is a summary of the significant management actions taken by Commissioners in 2015 to maintain and restore the abundance of Commission managed species.

How do fish feel about warming water?

I can only imagine how the fish must feel. The water is warming. They all feel the difference, but how they react to it is key.
Some species have the ability to move away from the effects of warming water and others don’t. And then again, some species like the warm water and it produces greater abundance (like black sea bass), yet others do not like warm water and leave the area if they can (cod), those that cannot leave the area become less abundant and could eventually disappear from the area (sea scallops and quahogs).

A study released by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) last month titled the “Northeast Climate Vulnerability Assessment” sheds some light on how 82 species in northeast waters (many fished by recreational and commercial fishermen) are impacted by climate change.

Fortunately for us Dr. Jonathan Hare, one of the world’s most respected scientists studying climate change and its impact on fish, lives right here in Rhode Island. Dr. Hare, fisheries oceanographer at NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), is director of NOAA’s Narragansett Lab and is the lead author of the study.

“Our method identifies specific attributes that influence marine fish and invertebrate resilience to the effects of a warming ocean and characterizes risks posed to individual species. The study will help us better account for the effects of warming waters on our fishery species in stock assessments and when developing fishery management measures.” said Dr. Hare.
The study method for assessing vulnerability categorizes species that are “generalists” as less vulnerable to climate change than are those that are “specialists.” For example, Atlantic cod and yellowtail flounder are more generalists, since they can use a variety of prey and habitat, and are ranked as only moderately vulnerable to climate change. The Atlantic sea scallop is more of a specialist, with limited mobility and high sensitivity to the ocean acidification that will be more pronounced as water temperatures warm. Sea scallops have a high vulnerability ranking.

The study also goes a long way to further explain what is happening in our area with warm water fish being more abundance and cold water fish less abundant in our area.

The study’s summary of results helps put the species rankings into contest. The specie summaries, that discuss what is known about the effects of climate change on the species, will be covered in future articles, particularly those species commonly fished by recreational and commercial fishermen in our area.

The study appears in its entirety on PLOS One, an online scholarly science journal at journals.plos.org.


Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shellfishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Visit Captain Dave’s No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.com or e-mail him with your fishing news and photos at dmontifish@verizon.net.

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