Contact: Scott Smullen - NMFS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Peyton Fleming - DEM 3/13/96
Federal and state health officials have tested for oil contamination in the waters off Rhode Island and have declared that Rhode Island finfish are clean and safe to eat. As a result, federal and state fisheries managers are reopening 250 square miles of fishing grounds to the harvest of finfish and squid, effective Thursday, March 14.
Officials say finfish species are untainted by January's oil spill, but continued oil-contamination is forcing state and federal agencies to continue sampling and monitoring lobsters and shellfish.
"We've moved as quickly as possible to guarantee this reopening strikes the delicate balance between providing fishing opportunities and yet ensuring Rhode Island's seafood is safe and wholesome," said Rollie Schmitten, director of the U.S. Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service, which filed the limited reopening plan today with the Federal Register in Washington, D.C. "We will work closely with the state to monitor bottom species and reopen waters to other fishermen as soon as possible."
"Today's action is a major step forward in getting Rhode Island commercial fishermen back to work," said Lincoln Almond, Governor of Rhode Island. "Obviously, the oil spill has been a financial calamity for the fishing community in Rhode Island, and I promise the state will continue to do everything it can to reopen the other fisheries as quickly as possible."
According to officials from NMFS and the statežs Department of Environmental Management, fishermen are allowed to catch squid and finfish in the closed area using hook and line, mid-water trawls, weirs, and other fish gear that does not drag on the bottom of the ocean floor. Dragger-type gear will not be allowed.
Federal and state officials will prohibit the use of lobster traps, bottom trawls, dredges, and any fishing gear that targets such bottom-dwelling marine life throughout the entire closed area until federal and state seafood inspectors find the area untainted and declare those species fit for harvest.
Today's filing by NMFS also confirmed the state's request for the closure of 28 square miles of lobster grounds off the south and east end of Block Island. The 28-square-mile area has been effectively closed since early February, after inspectors began catching lobsters smelling of oil in the area, which is outside the 250-square-mile closure zone. The closure has been enforced through patrol activity in the area and daily inspections in the seafood houses by Rhode Islandžs Department of Health.
All fishermen will be allowed to transit the closed area and possess lobsters, crabs, and clams caught outside the area provided their gear is stowed. Fishermen cooperating with the state's gear retrieval program will be allowed to recover lobster traps from the closed area and place them elsewhere.
On January 21, federal and state officials closed 105 miles of federal waters and 145 miles of state shellfish beds and fishing grounds following a January 19 spill of more than 800,000 gallons of heating oil off Moonstone Beach near Narragansett, R.I.
Just days after the oil spill, U.S. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown sent a federal task force to Rhode Island to conduct free emergency inspections to ensure seafood product safety, process low interest disaster loans to small businesses, and provide $600,000 to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation for Revolving Loan fund applications. What's more, the fisheries service has reestablished its Fishing Family Assistance Center in Narragansett to help fishermen identify and use financial aid and social and community services.