The biggest 2015 recreational fishing regulation meeting in Rhode Island will occur Monday, February 16 at the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI . At this meeting, regulation amendments to recreational fishing management plans for summer flounder, striped bass, tautog, scup, black sea bass and others will be discussed.

It all starts with a 4:30 p.m. workshop taking place in lieu of traditional specie Advisory Panel meetings. At the meeting DEM scientists and staff will review stock status, fishing activity that occurred this past year along with possible regulation options that take into consideration Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) regulations and guidelines our state must follow. Bag limits (or quantities of fish that can be taken), minimum sizes and season lengths of all these species will be discussed in open meeting form at the workshop. Anglers are urged to attend, voice their opinions and propose possible regulation options.

The workshop is then followed by a 7:00 p.m. public meeting where anglers can voice their support, or non support, for the various regulation specie options proposed.

All of this is part of a new meeting format developed by DEM utilizing a "lean" approach to management. The process has been streamlined to maximize angler input and encourage more attendance at workshops holding one meeting in place of what use to take place on four different evenings. At the end of 2014 a similar commercial fisheries workshop and public hearing were held with great results.

Important angler issues to be discussed at the workshop/public hearing meetings include new striped bass regulations for private anglers and those being considered for for-hrie (charter and party boat) anglers; summer flounder (fluke) regulations (we overfished our quota last year so more conservative regulation might be in store); black sea bass (we must reduce our landings by 1/3) and a host of others.

Workshop and public hearing input will be presented to the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council (RIMFC) for consideration as they make their recommendations. DEM staff recommendations, RIMFC recommendations and public meeting input all go to DEM director Janet Coit for consideration. Director Coit then makes a decision on what regulations will be in 2015.

Direct links to material that will be covered at the meetings on the DEM website are as follows:

Workshop -www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwild/pdf/021615p.pdf; Hearing - http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwild/pdf/021615pp.pdf .

Visit the ASMFC website (www.asmfc.org) for highlights of their winter meeting. They have published a winter conference summary along with press releases on important specie issues like striped bass. Many of the regulation guidelines that will be discussed at the February 16th meeting in Rhode Island were developed last week at this ASMFC meeting.

Congressional leaders introduce new Sportsmen's Act

The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) gave its support to the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2015 introduced in Congress last week. The act includes numerous legislative measures beneficial to anglers and hunters across the nation.

In a press release last week the ASA said the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2015 contains provisions that will benefit our nation's sportsmen and women by providing increased access to our public lands and waters, improving fish and wildlife management and protecting the use of traditional fishing tackle.

More information on Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2015, as well as an action alert to contact Senators in support of the bill, can be found at www.KeepAmericaFishing.org.

Online catch and effort reporting workshop for commercial fishermen

There will be a training workshop for online harvester catch and effort reporting Monday, February 23rd at 6:30 p.m. The online reporting is the electronic replacement for the paper catch and effort logbooks. The training will be held at the Community College of Rhode Island located at 400 East Avenue, Warwick RI. This workshop walks commercial fishermen through using the online logbook reporting application and answers any questions they have. The workshop is not mandatory in order to participate in electronic reporting, but please consider attending if you plan to enroll for 2015. You may bring a laptop to follow along with the workshop, but it is not necessary.

Contact Tom Rosa at 423-1923/ tom.rosa@dem.ri.gov or Nichole Ares at 423-1926 nichole.ares@dem.ri.gov with any questions.

Trout Unlimited to host climate change seminar

The Narragansett Chapter of Trout Unlimited ( #225 ) will host its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 25, 2014, starting at 6:30 PM, at the Coventry / West Greenwich Elks, 42 Nooseneck Hill Road (Rte. 3, Exit 6 off of Rte. 95), West Greenwich, R.I.

TU 225 member and Executive Director of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), Grover Fugate will provide a presentation on "How Climate Change is Affecting Rhode Island". Fugate will discusses current major shifts in the physical and biological systems, a little of the science behind these shifts, and then what the CRMC is doing to plan for adapting to these changes. Members and guests are welcome. For information contact chapter president, Ron Marafioti, at 463-6162.

Fly fishing the road

systems of Alaska

The Rhody Fly Rodders will hold a presentation on fly fishing in Alaska on Tuesday, February 17th, 6:30 p.m. at the Riverside Sportsmen's Association, East Providence. Dan Spedding will be the guest speaker. He has fished the road systems of Alaska without ever staying at a lodge, never been on a float plane and never hired a guide. "One thing Spedding is good at is fly fishing, low cost style, on the public roads of South Central Alaska. Dan will discuss the five species of salmon as well as the other fish that swim Alaska's waters. He'll give you advice on flies and tackle that will shorten your learning curve and get you hooked up with the fish of your dreams." For information call Peter Nilsen at 401.245.7172 or email at pdfish@fullchannel.net.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain's master license and a charter fishing license. Contact or forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@

verizon.net or visit his website at www.noflukefishing.com.