The Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council (RIMFC) held a public hearing and special meeting last week concerning the recreational scup regulations.
    
The current law, which passed in April, called for a 50 fish daily limit and a 10 inch minimum size, but with a season that didn’t open until August 1.  Rhode Island faced a 35% mandated cut in the recreational scup quota, and had to make this up somehow. The shortened season was the chosen method.
    
This upset many shore-based anglers who regularly fished for scup.  Also, nearly all of the area bait shops were not pleased because of the loss of revenue in bait sales.
    
The R.I. Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) petitioned the DEM Director and the Marine Fisheries Council to reconsider the scup regulations, and they agreed to put the matter back on the table.
   
The Scup Advisory Panel was called into service and tried to come up with more options that would allow an earlier opening to the season, yet stay within the mandated cut in the quota.  These options were then presented at a special hearing/meeting of the Fisheries Council on June 6.
    
It was noted that, because of legal requirements for filing new fisheries laws, the season could not be opened prior to July 1.
    
The option that was selected and approved was: