RISC Meeting Spawns a question: What's the Real State of RI Fisheries?

The Rhode Island Statewide Coalition held its annual meeting yesterday. As the ProJo reports, the focus was on the economy and included guest speakers Leonard Lardaro (URI Economics professor) and a former New Zealand parliament member Maurice McTigue.

McTigue...gave examples of how his country made major internal changes to turn the tide on years of debt....[He]...told the audience that one of the ways his country got out of debt was by using its natural resources. He said New Zealand used long-term contracts to get commercial enterprises such as lumber companies — whether locally or from abroad — to become invested in the country’s economy.

He also described how it tossed out old bureaucracy and completely overhauled its education system by having individual schools governed by boards of trustees consisting of people elected only by the parents of children who attend the schools.

The arrangement led to accountability and better education, he said.

McTigue said that after making difficult changes, his country went from decades of not having balanced budgets to years of posting surpluses.

“Most of us here have had to live with the exact same income we got four years ago,” he said. “If we can do it, why can’t the government?”

It should be obvious what the Ocean State's greatest natural resource is, right? The Bay. Water (or "Waaatterrrr" a la Patrick Kennedy). The shipping/port issue debate comes to mind immediately, but I want to go beneath those waves and focus on our fisheries. Basically, maximizing our fishing industry responsibly is something that needs to be studied. But I'm no expert at all and confess to being naive as far as the state of the fisheries.

In 2008, shore fisherman started expressing their worry that our striped bass population was in decline. Some thought this was the "canary in the coal mine", but the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission maintained that all was well with stripers. Fishermen didn't agree with each other, either (though I'm pretty sure that's not surprising!). Shore fisherman continue to believe that stocks are declining, citing a scarcity of "schoolies". However, apparently teen stripers and some of the big boys are still plentiful. There are also concerns that commercial fishermen down the coast (Maryland, for example) are wreaking havoc on our stocks.

Now there are also concerns about the Southern New England lobster industry and plans are in the works to reduce the allowable catch by between 50-75%. That would be a death blow to many, many lobstermen, who point out that they are older and basically the fleet is going to "age out" eventually anyway, so drastic cuts aren't needed.. Apparently the drop in catchable lobsters is attributed to "warming water temperatures, shell disease and an increase in predators such as striped bass and dogfish." An increase in striped bass. See my confusion? One fishery is shrinking because of an increase in the population of another species that is also shrinking. Or is it?!

By the way, I never knew that squid fishing was the most valuable fishery around here. Calamari anyone?