There was a meeting tonight at the Coastal Institute to discuss a proposed new fishtrap and move of one fishtrap at the Center Wall and West Wall of the Point Judith Harbor of refuge... The RIMFC can only recommend for or against the application to DEM and have no true decision making in the proposal. The RIMFC's responsibility was purely to have public input into the topic.

If I have my facts correct, Tom Hoxie was applying for a permit to be able to relocate one 450' fishtrap to an area just west of the end of the West Wall, with necessary securing lines attaching to the wall amd applying for a new 700' spot along the Center Wall. Mr. Hoxie said that his fish traps would hardly interfere with recreational fishing along the West Wall and that he would remove the trap around June 15. The Center Wall trap , I did not hear any dates on but he was looking to place a 700' trap there. Both spots would certainly impede boat fishing and the trap on the West Wall would likely interfere with te schoolies moving up and down the wall at this spring ritual spot. He personally assured me that the beach was better to fish than the wall either way - he may be right but I'm not convinced...

Now several people, for and against this topic, vouched for Tom Hoxie as an upstanding guy, and I'll assume that to be the case. He was pretty tweaked by the general mood of the forum, which was mostly against his proposal. And my impression is that he felt that the right information was not getting out properly.

Others have said that for a net fishery, this is pretty clean too ("clean" will be a topic for another day - those that were there tonight understand what I mean). About the only thing that I asked was if he could put it anywhere else, and I didn't really get much response from him.

In a nutshell, every club that had a representative and a couple Rod & Reel Commercial guys stated they were opposed to it. A couple commercial guys that were left (most left after an earlier discussion of clam bed openings) voted pro trap applications.

A motion was made to have the Council recommend against the trap and was seconded. Two people voted to recommend against and three recommended for moving ahead and then, and I'm not entirely sure what or why, a motion was then made to table the discussion until the next meeting, which did pass....

So, as I read it, the vast majority of those there were against it but the commercial leanings of the council tabled the topic until the next meeting....

I have some other observations on the meeting that I'll get into tomorrow...


G'nite...

John, There has always been a a couple of fish traps on that wall.One was always near the west gap and one was about 60 yards up the wall just outside the bend in the wall.They never affected the fishing at the west wall,at least all the years I fished it. Hoxie has always had the traps at the wall for years.

Once you round the bend in the wall,there really isnt any fishing opurtunity for stripers.He is 100% correct to say the best fishing is close to the beach! Im not sure about fall fishing for albies and bonita? As far as putting a larger trap in basically the same area as he had one before, Im not sure how it would addect the fishing but, I dont think it will kill it.How many people striper fish there after the first week in may anyway? There are much more productive spots after april.

Im a little torn on this because I feel the fishing oppurtunity after the spring on the west wall isnt that great at all.Most boat fisherman (after fluke) concentrate off the "center wall". And fluke doesnt get rolling along good until july! According to what you said the traps will be long gone by then anyway.So whats the problem??

In the late summer and early fall I have seen many people out there fishing for bonita and albies, playing mostly a waiting game and catching a suntan, for a few seconds at a shot at some fish that might come close to the wall once in an 8 hour period.

The guy has been making a living there for a long time and never bothered anyone.I say overall, let him have his traps.

As far as him being "Tweaked" I cant say as I blame him! Sometimes recreational fisherman tend to be a little to hard to get along with.Its either there way or the highway.Thats one of the things that turned me off to the whole scene.I swear if the comms pass gas there will be a public hearing on it asking for the lynch mob! Over the years these guys have gave me free bait, let me fish off the back of there boats, told me where the fish were..etc...etc...

Again however I come back to the old addage,Everyone who eats fish gets it from somewhere,The same guys who hate the comms on a hearing night, go eat scrod with there wife on the weekend!!

This is serious buissnes to these guys, I mean, its there livelyhood! There not out there to play with a few school bass on a saturday.

As things go , fish traps are bettter than draggers so we shouldn't be too hard on a fishtrap guy. I think being reasonable about a "clean" fishing method gives us more credibility with the comms when its time to discuss bicatch.

I would think the one proposed for the end of the wall may be a problem for boaters. I don't know where I'd put it instead but that seems like a bad spot to me. Maybe something smaller that could fit in without getting too close to the entrance.

As far as interfering with the spring schoolie fishing , I'm not too concerned unless its further in than proposed.

I don't do it but I do regularly see the guys chasing Bonito and Albies out there but it is later in the season and he says he'll be removing it so ......

Again I think you want to reasonable about some of these things or you will not be heard when something really important comes up.

Hey Bill,

I think he didn't have too bad of a proposal on the West Wall, the Center wall one was worse for the local boaters there and would shut them out.

He was saying that the best fishing was from the beach, not the closest that the wall gets to the beach. He was also saying that he would have the West Wall trap removed on June 15th - so that would not effect the late season albie fishing at all. But he did not say that he was going to take down the Center Wall trap. My impression was that he would leave that one up all the time.

What got me about the West Wall was - there just was not enough info available or out there yet, was that it could impede the travel of the fish in and out? Could it be a danger to the little boats that run up & down the wall? The cables that secure the fishtrap would anchor on the wall, so that could be a problem and would porevent people from running up & down the wall.

Supposedly, this trap is a lot smaller than other ones over by Newport. Is his a bad proposal? Maybe, maybe not. I personally did not feel that I had enough info about it to personally sway me that it was not going to hurt the average Joe fishing in that area. With more info, I may not have been opposed to it.

If I remember correctly from the map the people that showed up on time had, this was ablout the location for the trap...
http://striped-bass.com/images/wwalltrap.jpg

Those traps are well marked once placed, If a boater cant see or find them,they dont belong piloting a boat!

The map you show places the trap in the same spot as it has always been.Its just larger.Does not look to me like it will have any effect at all on the migrating little bass.

The trap also does not affect at all the west gap,the main entrance in and out of the harbour on the west side.

I really think this guy is getting the shaft on this one! The trap should be allowed.

Bill - that was just a rough off what I remember - I could be all wrong about that. I think he was looking to have the option to use the one after the bend or go to the proposed one at the end of the wall...

John,

Like you said, there are a lot of unanswered questions. If the net off the middle wall is anchored to it, it will pose a problem for lots of boaters that work wire line through that area. It will also represent a problem for anglers that run the wall and plug the length of it.

There has been no mention of why we need yet another directed fishery for squid and scup. These are two already exploited species and they're darn important forage for every game fish out there. This is also the time of year that the squid (Loligo pealei)
spawn and lay their eggs along the south shore beaches. By July the bottom is covered with squid egg sacks that represent the next generation of squid. They only live a short time and if we disrupt their ability to spawn we may have a much bigger problem than one of uncluttered access to the walls.

Here's a quote from http://www.mbl.edu/publications/Loligo/squid/eggs.0.html
"Increased fishing pressure on Loligo and other squid have caused a growing concern among biologists and conservationists. This concern has also revealed a lack of substantial information on the life histories of many of the exploited species of Loligo. The sort of information that fisheries managers and agencies need in order to adequately protect a species from over-fishing includes reproduction, behavior, fecundity and age."


Like so much of what happens in fisheries mgmt. the devil is in the details.

Mike

Who ever drags wire at that protion of the wall?? your talking water thats only 13 to 18 feet deep???

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&,
I stand by what I said.

If the net off the middle wall is anchored to it, it will pose a problem for lots of boaters that work wire line through that area.

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, you asked:
Who ever drags wire at that protion of the wall?? your talking water thats only 13 to 18 feet deep???

The answer is: anglers that catch big bass.

http://fisheye.striped-bass.com/images/march/centerwall.jpg

Please note the depth off the middle wall is not just 13 to 18 feet deep, and depending on where the net is anchored, and depending on how long it is, it could indeed be a nuisance.

Ok, in this corner....

Mike - I think Bill is talking about the West Wall because that was what we were primarily discussing...

JohnR,

You did say:

But he did not say that he was going to take down the Center Wall trap. My impression was that he would leave that one up all the time.

There's no need to defend what Bill said. He asked a question based on my exact quote which DID state "If the net off the middle wall is anchored to it..." that's pretty hard to mistake for the west wall.

I've snapped wire and parachute jigs with Al Conti off the center wall. I know a number of other captains that also run the wall with wire. I've plugged every inch of the outside and I've seen ever inch of the bottom by diving the wall.

I also said, "there are a lot of unanswered question" not the least of which is: do we need more fishing effort on scup and squid?

This is not an issue of commercial fishermen vs. recreational anglers...it's about wise use of a common resource. I missed yesterdays meeting because of illness, but I won't miss the next one.

Mike

Speaking of wire line, Fred Bowman of Bottom Line Charters just gave a talk at the Newport County Salt Water Fishing Club meeting in February. He in fact stated that he worked the Center Wall.

Why would a charter captain work an area that would produce fish?

Maybe the Center wall but Definatly not the west wall, unless there snappin wire for choggies.

Yes they do fish the center wall that way, had my walls mixed up for a second.No need for everyone to put up maps and "flock" to some rescue.The original map john showed ,only had the west wall in it with the net.

Hey Mike, John is right, Now I know you are a great mind reader buy, honestly, I thought we were talking about the west wall. I have always called that wall the "Center wall" When you say "middle" I thought that was the middle of the west wall.But your better than I with those eagle eye Quotes!! Read every word verbatem! Never miss a trick!Catch em in an off word and hop all over it! You should be in politics.

Im not good at using the fancy "quotes" and bold red letters. I read johns post to fast and only had the west wall on my mind.


:smash: :smash: :smash:

Now for the Quote"anglers who catch big bass fish the center wall"...On occasion maybe, of course I have never considerd driving a boat in circles towing some wire"fishing" But if one does want to play that game, I would suggest out front of point jude a much better spot.

I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT!

that's funny...surfcaster expert now becomes boat expert.

sure, another fish trap. why not. scup are plentiful. let's destroy another strong resource. why not grab a few togs too.

You are right about the expert surfisherman part!:D :D :D :D BTW,yOU GOT A "50" YET!!!!!!!!!!!! SEE yOU BOYS LATER!

I almost forgot, I am now an expert contractor also..Need a deck built???:smash: :smash:


If so, Please call "Alisson Home improvement" for 10% off all your home needs! 401-480-1870!! Licensed and Insured! Just mention Johns site for the discount!

The needs of the many out weight the needs of the few! And there are lots more rec. that would like to use that same water but can not for the needs of a few! In most states you can not use a water area if it will take the area away from other use! The only way this can happen is if no one goes to the meetings and asks that they too be allowed to use the area. We just had a floating temp. pier not allowed in town because it would not allow for other use of the same area by others.

john

Well I'm not sure if the Hoxies own all the traps in the area,

one at hazard av. black point, 2 inside the east wall, one out side the west, now maby another out side west wall,and one at the middle wall.
looks like we have to use more gear to catch maby same amount
as one did in the old days.

Well I just hope they charge by the foot.

denis

I'm on the fence on this one. On one hand I buy and eat fish on the other hand I don't want to see the seas stripped barren.

Why do they need more traps? Is it to increase the catch or is it to maintain the current level of production. I would say if they need more traps to maintain production that they should not be allowed by any means.

While no method of fishing is perfect, it would appear that the fish traps we are speaking of have a much lower bycatch mortality than some of the other methods so in that sense I support them. They also leave the seabed tha same as when they started unlike a dragger that essentially bulldozes the forest flat to catch squirrels and throws everything else back.

As someone else said it's in the details and without knowing all the facts I can't really make an informed decision.