I am thankful for the fish

During the holiday season I often reflect and write about why fishing brings me joy. I am very blessed and fortunate. I am able to share the joy of fishing with others by taking them fishing on my boat or by advocating and writing about the fish and fishing.

Here are some of the many reasons why I am thankful for the fish.
When the sun rises on the water it warms my soul no matter if it is hot or cold outside. This brings me great joy.
It brings me joy when I cast my lure and a striped bass hits it with all the force of nature.
When I see the water, when I step on a dock or on my vessel, my heart is filled with joy.
I see the schools of fish, the water boiling with bait, the seals, dolphin and whales… they all bring me great joy.
I must admit, I am hooked on the adrenaline rush, my heart beats fast and I am filled with joy when I realize a fish is near and I may catch it.
When I filet the catch I am filled with respect for nature and the fish caught. I am thankful to God for the food he has brought my way and filled with joy that I am going home with fish.
When I take pictures of people who have caught fish on my boat they are always smiling. This brings me great joy. My home and office walls are filled with these trophies.
I am an advocate for the fish and the sea for a very selfish reason. I do not want anyone to steal the joy that fish and fishing brings me.

New way to count fish

Scientific surveys of fish are often carried out by trawling. This means towing a net and then hauling it up to count the catch. Estimates are then made about how many fish of each species are in each square mile. They are generally done in the same area for the same amount of time on a periodic basis. They are costly to do; however, scientists may have found a new way to determine what fish are in the water.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) does trawl surveys in Narragansett Bay, the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and regional fisheries commission do trawl surveys too. Fish managers and scientists simply do not have the resources to do a proper job with survey trawls in our coastal waters never mind areas outside our territorial waters (200 miles). Large tracts of the ocean are not monitored so we have no idea what fish are in the water globally, never mind how many are being taken out.

However, a reliable and inexpensive way to monitor fish populations is being developed by scientists. Philip Thomsen and his team from the Natural History Museum of Denmark are developing a way to count fish that is far less costly.
The team is examining fragments of floating DNA which fish slough off in slime and scales, or excrete into the water.

A November 19 Economist blog post said scientists “Hope they are able to link the quantity of this ‘environmental’ DNA to those species’ abundances, as measured by a trawl survey that took place at the same time… Given the fragmentary nature of environmental DNA, they found it easier to recognize families than species (a family, in this context, is the taxonomic level above a genus; herring, sardines and shad, for example, all belong to the family Clupeidae). The trawls picked up fish from 28 families. The team found DNA from members of 26 of these in their samples, and also detected three families that had no representatives entangled in trawl nets.”

The technique has a long way to go before developed to the point that it can do an accurate census of the world’s oceans. However, Thomsen is on to something here and we wish him well. With global markets more active than ever before in world fisheries we need a reliable and inexpensive way to count fish so we can make sure fish populations stay healthy at the highest sustainable levels.

Where’s the bite?

Tautog fishing remains strong off the coastal shore. Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren said, “Tautog fishing is where the action is. We have regular die-hard customers still going out. Many are fishing off Newport and catching a codfish or two when tautog fishing.” Elisa Chill of Snug Harbor said, “The tautog bite is good close to shore. We weighed in a 13.92 pound tautog caught by angler Lee Luginbuhl Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m.” Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “A nice slug of codfish up to fifteen pounds was reported on Friday's tautog trip while a tremendous amount of catch and release tog action was reported on Saturday's trip between the keepers. Biggest tog around ten pounds Friday and seven and change on Saturday.”

“Striped bass are still around with many anglers catching school size bass and catching keepers. One customer caught a 36” bass at Cole River.” said Macedo. “The school striped bass bite is on heavy from Charlestown to Matunuck. Customers are catching 20 to 30 fish on an outing with keepers mixed in every now and then,” said Cahill.

Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Cod fishing really came into stride as the new body of fish is right on time and right where expected chasing vast schools of herring. Jigs and teasers far out produced bait both days we were able to get out as the cod were often up off the bottom hunting their prey. Hi hook for Saturday boxed an easy limit of nice size market cod with two other fishers boxing nine apiece.”

Freshwater fishing is a good alternative this time of year when high winds and rough seas force anglers inshore. Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence, said, “Trout fishing is good for those trying it this time of year. Not many have taken advantage of DEM’s stocking in the fall (visit dem.ri.org for stocked ponds). But the big fresh water action this time of year is carp. Customer Paul Shorts caught a 27 pound carp.” I spoke with Dave Henault Monday while he was carp fishing on the Blackstone River and he said Ocean State Tackle has a good amount of carp fishing gear including nets, unhooking mats, bait and gear.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shellfishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. He is a RISAA board member, a member of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association and a member of the RI Marine Fisheries Council. Contact or forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit his website at noflukefishing.com.