Marine Fisheries Minimum Sizes & Possession Limits
Rev. 5/28/2024
|
SPECIES |
MINIMUM SIZE |
SEASON |
CURRENT |
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| American Eel |
9″ |
Closed 9/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
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| American Plaice (dab) |
12″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
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| American Shad |
NA |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Prohibited in state waters |
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| Atlantic Salmon |
NA |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Prohibited in state waters |
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| Atlantic Sturgeon |
NA |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Prohibited in state waters |
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| Black Sea Bass
|
11″ |
Sub-Periods |
100 lbs/vsl/day |
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| Bluefish |
18″ |
1/1 – 4/30 |
6,000 lbs/vsl/wk |
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| Cod |
19″ |
5/1 – 4/30 |
1,000 lbs/vsl/day |
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| Coastal Sharks- Smoothhound |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Unlimited |
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| Coastal Sharks- Non-Blacknose Small Coastal Sharks Group – Atlantic sharpnose, finetooth, and bonnethead |
No Minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Unlimited |
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| Coastal Sharks- Blacknose |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Closed |
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| Coastal Sharks- Aggregated Large Coastal Sharks Group – Silky, tiger, blacktip, spinner, bull, lemon, nurse |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
55 sharks/vsl/day |
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| Coastal Sharks- Hammerhead Group – Scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
55 sharks/vsl/day |
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| Coastal Sharks- Pelagic Shark Group – Shortfin Mako |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Closed |
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| Coastal Sharks- Pelagic Group – Porbeagle, common thresher, oceanic whitetip, blue |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Unlimited |
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| Coastal Sharks- Prohibited Shark Group – sand tiger, bigeye, sandtiger, whale, basking, bignose, galapagos, night reed, narrowtooth, caribbean sharpnose, smalltail, atlantic angel, longfin mako, bigeye thresher, sharpnose sevengill, bluntnose sixgill, blacknose, bigeye sixgill |
NA |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Prohibited |
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| Coastal Sharks- Research Shark Group – Sandbar |
NA |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Prohibited |
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| Spiny Dogfish |
No Minimum |
5/1 – 4/30 |
7,500 lbs/vsl/day |
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| Summer Flounder (Fluke) |
with Exemption Certificate 14″ |
Sub-Periods |
150 lbs/vsl/day |
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|
without Exemption Certificate 14″ |
Sub-Periods |
150 lbs/vsl/day |
||||
| Horseshoe Crab Bait Fishery |
7″ |
1/1 – 4/30 |
Closed |
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| Horseshoe Crab Biomedical Fishery |
7″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Unlimited |
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| Menhaden inside Management Area |
No Minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Closed |
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| Menhaden outside Management Area |
No Minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
120,000 lbs/vsl/day |
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| Monkfish |
17″ whole/ |
5/1 – 4/30 |
4,900 lbs/vsl/wk tails or |
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| Haddock |
16″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
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| Pollock |
19″ |
1/1 – 12-31 |
No limit |
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|
Scup |
General Category |
Sub-Periods |
10,000 lbs/vsl/wk |
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|
Floating traps |
Sub-Periods |
Unlimited |
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| Striped bass |
General Category |
Sub-Periods |
Closed |
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|
Floating traps |
4/1 – 12/31 |
Unlimited |
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| Skate |
Wing Fishery |
1/1 – 12/31 |
35,000 lbs/vsl/wk wings or |
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|
Bait Fishery |
Sub Periods |
25,000 lbs/vsl/day |
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| Tautog |
16″ |
Sub-Periods |
Closed |
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| Weakfish (Squeteague) |
16″ |
Open Season All other times call RIDFW for details |
100 lbs/vsl/day |
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| Winter Flounder |
12″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
50 lbs/vsl/day |
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| The harvesting or possession of winter flounder is PROHIBITED in Narragansett Bay north of the Colregs Line of Demarcation as well as in Potter Pond, Point Judith Pond,and the Harbor of Refuge | ||||||
| Yellowtail Flounder |
12″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
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| Atlantic Herring |
No |
1/1 – 12/31 |
Area 2: Unlimited Area 3: 2,000 lbs/vsl/day |
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| River Herring |
NA |
1/1- 12/31 |
Prohibited in state waters |
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Rev. 5/28/2024
|
Species |
Minimum Size |
Season |
Possession Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
|
American eel |
9″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
25 eels/person/day 50 eels/vsl/day for licensed party/charter vessels |
|
American plaice (dab) |
14″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
|
Black Sea Bass |
16.5″ |
5/22 – 8/26 |
2 fish/person/day |
|
8/27 – 12/31 |
3 fish/person/day |
||
|
Black Sea Bass |
16″ |
6/18 – 8/31 |
2 fish/person/day |
|
9/1 – 12/31 |
6 fish/person/day |
||
|
Bluefish |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
3 fish/person/day |
|
Bluefish |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
5 fish/person/day |
|
Cod |
23″ |
1/1 – 5/31 |
5 fish/person/day |
|
6/1 – 8-31 |
Closed |
||
|
9/1 – 12/31 |
5 fish/person/day |
||
|
Summer Flounder (Fluke) |
19″ |
4/1 – 12/31 |
6 fish/person/day |
| Special Area Provisions: While fishing from shore at India Point Park in Providence; Conimicut Park in Warwick; Rocky Point, Warwick; Stone Bridge in Tiverton; East and West Walls (Harbor of Refuge), Narragansett; Fort Wetherill, Jamestown; and Fort Adams, Newport; anglers may possess up to 2 summer flounder 17 inches or greater in length as part of their fish possession limit. The remaining fish must be 19 inches or larger. | |||
|
Monkfish |
17″ whole |
1/1 – 12/31 |
50 lbs tails/day or |
|
Haddock |
18″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
|
Pollock |
19″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
|
Scup |
9.5″ |
5/1 – 12/31 |
30 fish/person/day |
|
Scup |
11″ |
5/1 – 12/31 |
30 fish/person/day |
|
Scup |
11″ |
5/1 – 8/31 |
30 fish/person/day |
|
9/1 – 10/31 |
40 fish/person/day |
||
|
11/1 – 12/31 |
30 fish/person/day |
||
|
Skate |
No minimum |
1/1 – 12/31 |
10 fish/person/day |
|
Striped Bass |
28″-<31″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
1 fish/person/day |
|
Striped Bass Circle Hook Provision: Required when fishing recreationally for striped bass with bait. |
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|
Tautog |
16″ Max of 10 fish/vsl during all periods |
4/1 – 5/31 |
3 fish/person/day |
|
6/1 – 7/31 |
CLOSED |
||
|
8/1 – 10/14 |
3 fish/person/day |
||
|
10/15 – 12/31 |
5 fish/person/day |
||
|
Tautog |
16″ |
4/1 – 5/31 |
3 fish/person/day |
|
6/1 – 7/31 |
CLOSED |
||
|
8/1 – 10/14 |
3 fish/person/day |
||
|
10/15 – 12/31 |
5 fish/person/day |
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|
Weakfish (Squeteague) |
16″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
1 fish/person/day |
|
Winter Flounder (Blackback) |
12″ |
3/1 – 12/31 |
2 fish/person/day |
|
The harvesting or possession of winter flounder is PROHIBITED in Narragansett Bay north of the Colregs Line of Demarcation as well as in Potter Pond, Point Judith Pond, and the Harbor of Refuge |
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|
Witch Flounder |
14″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
|
Yellowtail Flounder |
13″ |
1/1 – 12/31 |
No limit |
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