A century of fishing and fish fluctuations in Narragansett Bay
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
12-1-2003
Abstract
Fish and shellfish abundance for Narragansett Bay and coastal Rhode Island waters from landing data and surveys were compared over the past century using the originally abundant species. The first quantitative data became available in the late 1800s as conflicts developed between the hook-and-line fishermen and the fish trap fishermen with the hook-and-line fishermen claiming a reduction in the availability of fish. Subsequent data were available from the state of Rhode Island and National Marine Fisheries Service landing data, and from the Graduate School of Oceanography and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management surveys. In the early records, several anadromous fish species were abundant which are no longer abundant or not reported in recent surveys such as alewife, shad, and smelt. Changes in shellfish include the disappearance of soft-shell clam, cultured oyster, and scallop and a replacement by quahog although the landing of quahog is recently down. Lobster was abundant in the early record and has increased in abundance in the recent records. Several species of fish that once dominated the catch have decreased. Boreal species like winter flounder have decreased with increasing water temperatures over the past 30 years. Migratory fish like menhaden and food fish like scup have decreased to low levels in the late 1900s compared to the 1800s. Predictions of fish yield from primary production indicate that migratory populations sustained the fishery in the late 1800s but in the late 1900s these populations no longer exist to sustain such a fishery. Survey data indicate these waters without fish have become prime habitat for crabs and lobsters.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Reviews in Fisheries Science
Volume
11
Issue
3
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Oviatt, Candace, Steven Olsen, Mark Andrews, Jeremy Collie, Timothy Lynch, and Kenneth Raposa. "A century of fishing and fish fluctuations in Narragansett Bay." Reviews in Fisheries Science 11, 3 (2003). doi: 10.1080/10641260390244413.