Rhody Herring Runs!

[JohnR]

There was a meeting last night about closing 3 Runs in Rhody to Restock - Apponaug, A run in Barrington, and Buckeye Brook... I just found out about it - after the fact. You've all heard me beatchin and moanin about the chemicals in Buckeye Brook from the Airport - well now they want to shut it down - this is what I just saw in an e-mail:

My apologies to all who get this notice a couple of times.
Last evening the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife held a public hearing regarding their plans to CLOSE OFF FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR the herring runs at Warwick Pond/Buckeye Brook, Gorton Pond/Apponaug Cove outlet, and Prince Pond/Barrington River outlet. There was no specific, scientific evidence made public to justify such closures for the purpose of "restocking". There was no specific timetable for reopening the runs. There were no specific goals for the proposed restocking made public. Furthermore, an angler who had participated in restocking programs in Massachusetts testified that restocking was done in Massachusetts without closures to the herring runs. If this angler sees this email, would you please put your testimony in writing and email the group a copy. Further testimony challenged DFW data collection as no one in the room had ever seen anyone monitoring the herring runs in question. Also several of us made the point that the heaviest runs this year happened after dark when no one but a few fisherman were around. Further testimony stated that closing off all three of these herring runs at one time would put excessive pressure on the remaining runs, thus being counterproductive. DEM enforcement, or the lack of, was mentioned as a major problem in dealing with overfishing. The point being that without enforcement, restocking would have little long term benefit.

The Chairman of the public hearing was admonished several times for not providing adequate notice of the public hearing and for taking the position that the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife can simply "dictate" what it intends to do. Our objections, coupled with a disgusted Steve Medeiros leaving the room prompted the Chairman to extend the public hearing for the purpose of gathering emails and letters from the public by 4:00 p.m. on June 27. Here is the email address, fax number, and mailing address where you can send your comments:

email: thurstonj@dem.state.ri.us

fax: 401-783-4460

mail: Rhode Island Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, Att: Dep. Chief of FW Fisheries
4808 Tower Hill Road
Wakefield, RI 02879

If you are a business owner, charter captain, etc. whose livelihood would be effected by these closures please let DFW know this.
If you are a concerned angler, feel free to use the testimony/observations reported above to object to such closures. You must do so in writing by June 27 to have any impact. Thanks.

Bob Moeller, RISAA Board of Directors
Chairman, RISAA Public Access Committee