RI DEM Rules " One 28 inch striper bass a day for 2015'

After numerous public hearings and testimony, e-mails and a partition RI DEM Director Janet Coit has made her final ruling and went along with our reciprocal New England states, Mass. Conn. New York, NH, No. Carolina with a one 28 inch striper bass limit per day in 2015. The federal government wanting a 31% reduction of the harvest and then the RI Marine Fisheries Council, an advisory board to the DEM, submitted a reduction plan last month that called for one fish a day (28 in) for recreational fishermen and 2 fish (32 in) a day for "for hire" 65 member RI Charter Association charter boats.
 Tuesday March 17, 2015 Director Janet Coit, who had the final say and then had the courage to go with the same creel limit as the other New England states to go with the one fish limit 28 inch recreational for ALL fishermen. A hats off to all who sent letters, phone calls and hundreds of a organized e-mail program to the DEM director and newly elected Governor Gina Raimondo to sway the decision for ALL recreational fishermen for the protection of the striper bass for future generations to enjoy.
  The charter boats will have to work a little harder this season and split the day with some fluke or sea bass or blue fish fishing to fill up the coolers for the fishers who still are not mandated to purchase a RI Salt Water License like the rest of the shore anglers do now.
 The southern New England Recreational fishing industry generates over 200 million dollars in revenue and has many special interest groups working the state house hallways.
  We almost lost the striper bass species by bad management in the past and now with a watch dog angler fraternity the species will have a much better chance of surviving.
  Wayne Gauvin Barber