By DAVID SMITH/ecoRI News contributor
A 3-year-old Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
(DEM) fishing rule that was designed to regulate boaters’ use of access points
on rivers and ponds is being changed.
The rule was criticized by several groups last year, including
the Rhode Island Rivers Council, the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association and
the Rhode Island Canoe & Kayak Association.
The rule currently requires that any group of six people and/or
three boats is prohibited from going on a paddle without DEM permission. That
permission must be obtained at least three weeks prior to the outing and,
afterward, a report must be filed stating who went on the outing.
Groups said there was no distinction between organized paddles and
several friends who decide on a weekend to head out on Rhode Island waters. It
seemed that the group of friends would need DEM permission or be in violation.
The proposed rewording states: “For the purpose of this
regulation, organizational boating, fishing or educational activities are
defined as being conducted by an organization which has an administrative and
functional structure for participants who are members or affiliates of said
organization.”
Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association program (WPWA) director
Denise Poyer spoke to the Rhode Island Rivers Council last August urging it
take action and seek a change in the regulation.
Poyer recently said that she didn’t see the proposed changes as
“winning a battle, but rather making sure that the public is heard when
regulations impact them.”
“I believe the authors of the original regulations did not realize
the extent of the audience they would affect or the burden they placed on users
other than fishing tournaments,” she said. “For most people paddling in the
watershed, the regulations will have no effect whatsoever. These rules are
really aimed at organized groups using the river. I still have questions about
the revised rules and am waiting to see how they are answered.”
A public hearing on a final draft of the proposed changes hasn’t
been scheduled. Charlestown resident Jim Cole, a member of the Rhode Island
Rivers Council and vice president of the Rhode Island Canoe & Kayak
Association, has been working on getting the regulation changed for the past
six months. He, too, is awaiting word on when the hearing will be held; he
expects a meeting will be scheduled sometime in early February.
A freshwater fishing guide is published by the state annually and
is distributed with fishing licenses. Licenses for the 2015-16 season will be
available at the end of February.
“The department is attempting to address a change as soon as
possible through the administrative process, hopefully this spring,” DEM
spokeswoman Gail Mastrati said. “With consideration of printing deadlines, at
this time we do not know whether the new regulations will be printed in the
freshwater fishing guide.”
Mastrati said it’s the department’s aim to ensure that all users
of freshwater access areas are treated fairly and not unnecessarily burdened,
while avoiding conflicts of use.
Cole said he has been working with DEM deputy chief Christine
Dudley at the Great Swamp field headquarters in South Kingstown on changes to
the regulation. He has edited it and made suggested changes.
The Rhode Island Canoe & Kayak Association has been getting
permits for the past 15 years, Cole said, ever since the National Park Service
began to require them of groups paddling the Blackstone River. He said that
when the group meets in March to determine a paddling schedule for the year it
sends the list to DEM.
The WPWA basically does the same thing. The organization hosts
paddling outings from its campus at the Barberville Dam access point. Poyer
wants it clarified whether a permit is needed in that case since outings take
place on the organization’s property and whether it can get a seasonal permit
for all of its programs.
Both Poyer and Cole also said the regulation should address other
types of water craft regardless of propulsion to cover any new trends in
recreation.
Cole said the Rhode Island Rivers Council met Jan. 14 and members
seemed pleased with the proposed changes.