PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) said climate change is bringing more squid to Rhode Island than ever before, but the rules about how much they can catch are made by out-of-state regulators.
“We have the highest amount of landings here in Rhode Island and we don’t even sit on the council that makes the rules for them,” said Jason McNamee, the deputy director of the DEM’s Bureau of Natural Resources.
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He said squid used to be more of a mid-Atlantic species. Yet while the species has migrated north, the regulations are still being created by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The council includes members representing states from New York to North Carolina, but not Rhode Island.
Fred Mattera is the president of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation in Rhode Island. He said the lack of representation means fishermen from North Carolina are allowed to catch more squid in Narragansett Bay than Rhode Island fishermen.
“The quota is divvied up by state based on traditional fishery history,” he explained.
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Versions of the bill have been proposed in both the U.S. House and Senate this year by Rhode Island’s congressional leaders, but Mattera said he has been advocating alongside Sen. Jack Reed for more than 15 years.
Mattera said putting a Rhode Islander on the council would allow them to advocate for changes, so that catching totals better represent where fish have migrated.
And he said that could make dishes like the state’s appetizer, calamari, cheaper in Rhode Island.
“The fishermen benefit by getting a better price and the consumer benefits because we don’t have to ship it,” he said.
