CIIIPIII.A'tlat,'-8COPY RIU-G 9Q-001 C2 Sea6raot OaIjository Winter Flounder in Rhode Island Coastal Ponds
Richard Crawford
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~ GRP Additional copiesof this publicationare availablefrom; Rhode Island Sea Grant Publications, University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI 02882-1197. Order P1133.
Nationa1 Sea Grant Depository Publication IRIU-G-90-00L Loan copies available from the National Sea Grant Depository, Pell Library Building, University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, Narragansett,RI 02882-1197,
Rhode Island Sea Grant. March 1990.
Editing and layout by Eleanor Ely, Rhode Island Sea Grant,
Cover photo: An adult winter flounder lying in the sand. The ~inter flounder's cryptic colorationallowsit to blendinconspicuouslyintoits environment, thus protecting it from predators. Photograph by Ilarold Wes Prat t.
SeaGrant is a nationalprogram working to ensurethe wise useand conservationof marine resourcesfor the public benefi , Table of Contents
2 PREFACE
2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
3 INTRODUCTION
6 HABITS OF COASTAL POND WINTER FLOUNDER Preparation for spawning season Spawning and early life history
8 COASTAL POND WINTER FLOUNDER FISHERIES Recreational fishery Cointnercial fishery
11 NEW KNOWLEDGE OF WINTER FLOUNDER BEHAVIOR Winter flounder spawning areas Distribution of winter flounder larvae Movements of adult winter flounder
18 CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL FISHERIES
18 RECENT CHANGES IN THE COMMERCIAL FISHERY
21 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
22 CONCLUSION
23 BIBLIOGRAPHY
24 APPENDI X List of fish species found in Rhode Island coastal ponds PREFACE
This work was part of the University of Rhode monitor the use and abuse of the resources for Island URI! Salt Ponds Study. Information from which they have shown such great concern. this studywas usedin the preparationof thc Rhode This paperreports the resultsof the finfish Island Coastal Zone Management Plan and the segmentof the Salt PondsStudy. It was written for SpecialArea ManagementPlan for RhodeIsland's the users of Rhode Island's coastal ponds, in the coastal pond regions. The Salt Ponds Study was a continued belief that without informed stewardship very successful multidisciplinary investigation that of resourcesby local users those resources are in has been adopted as a model for similar studies dangerof beinglost. That suchstewardship can elsewhere in the United States and abroad. One occur has been demonstrated by the involvement of reason for its success was the involvement of the Rhode Island's coastal pond watchers. This paper people who use the resources.This involvement was written for them and for those who share their continues today in the Rhode Island Sea Grant concern for the sustained well-being of these re- Pond Watchers Project, in which local residents s aurces.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper reflects the labors of many people ponds,they kept recordsof fishing activity and who worked on the fisheriescomponent of the URI other noteworthy events to keep me better in touch Salt Ponds Study. It also includes insights gained with the happenings on the ponds. I also want to by other research teams in the study, as well as thank commercial fishermen Richard Johnstone and ideas gleaned from innumerable conversations with William Sieczkiewicz for providing me with their fishermen while on the ponds. I am gratefully observations and catch records and for assisting indebted to all of the contributors, and same with the Ninigret Pond stock assessment. warrant special mention. Finally, my heartfelt appreciation is extended to Many students at the URI Graduate School of Stephen Olsen, Director of the Coastal Resources Oceanography worked on this project. Without Center. As coordinator of the Salt Ponds Study, he their participationthis work would neverhave been provided the glue that so successfully held together accomplished. Constance Carcy! Grove and Mary the various components of that eclectic investiga- Worobcc became accomplished draggerwomcn and tion. He also gave invaluable advice during the prepared graduate theses from stock assessmcntsof preparationof this paperand it has benefited flounder in Point Judith and Ninigrct ponds, re- immensely from his comments. spectively. Kim Billington, Leslie Bulian, Mary This work was administered by the Rhode Island Fabrizio, Bob Sand, Skip Cynar, Lynne Hanson, Sea Grant office and was financed in part by and others provided excellent support in various ca- NOAA Office of Sea Grant, U.S. Department of pacities during the project. Numerous students, URI Commerce, under Grant INA79AA-D-00096, and staff members, Department of Environmental Man- in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric agcrncnt personnel, and colleagues at the Coastal Administration, under the provisions of the Coastal ResourcesCenter also assisted in numerous ways Zone Management Act of 1972 Public Law 92- during the five years of research.A special thank 583!. This publicationwas producedunder NOAA you goes to the local residents who volunteered as Office of SeaGrant, U.S, Dcpartinentof Com- "pond watchers." From vantage points around thc merce, under Grant ONA89AA-D-SG-082. INTRODUCTION
During the 1960sand early 1970s,Point Judith botherto go out any more.There was no doubt in Pond andNinigret Pond Figure 1! ratedvery high their minds that there were not as many fish as amongrecreational fishermen as exceptionally there used to be. good fishing areas.Some claimed that on a good Therewere manyopinions about the causefor day you could catchas many fish there as you the perceiveddecrease in winter flounderlandings. could at the well-known regional "hot spot" off At the time of our surveysbetween 1978 and 1983, Quincy, Massachusetts. the most frequentlyexpressed belief amongrecre- By the mid 1970s,however, there werc signs ational fisherrncn was that the problem was the that not all was weLl with this popular fishery. Rec- impact of commercialharvests within the ponds. reationalfishermen recalled years when they had Two men operatedsmall otter trawls there,as they caughtmore fish and complainedthat the fish they had done during the previous decade. To recrea- now caught were smaller. Previously productive tional fishermen, they were a visible source of placessuch as GreenHill Pondchannel Figurc 3! compeiitionand potentialimpact on the winter did not seem to yield as many fish as they once did. flounder. Less conspicuous was the commercial Old-timers who used to spear a bushel-basketful of fykc-net fishery. A fyke net is a funnel-shapedtrap floundcr off the channel's sand flats didn't even made of fish net. Fish are typically guided to the
o3
41 30
4 I' 25
41 ' 20
71 50 71' 40 71 30 Figure 1. I hefour RhodeIsland coastalponds studied during the UR/ Salt Pond Study, mouth ol' the net by wings of netting stretching out the perceived problem with the resource was real. froin either side, Fish entering the fyke nct are There is a long history of concernfor the winier trapped until a fisherman removes them. Several flounder in Rhode Island waters. Prior to the turn of pcoplc sct theseportable fish traps in Point Judith, the century,biologists recognizedour estuariesand GreenHill and Potterponds. These nels were coastal ponds as places where winter flounder placed in areas less frequcntcd by recreational spawn and their young develop. In fact, during thc fishcnncn, so the fykc-nctlcrs received less vocal first severaldecades of this century the state of opposition than the Ninigret Pond draggermen. Rhode Island operateda winter flounderhatchery in Some recreational fishermen also believed that Wickford. Its purpose was to augment the natural increased fishing pressure by thc commercial fleet supply of young flounderso that populations sup- operating outside the ponds in Rhode Island and porting the important inshore commercial flounder Block Island sounds may have had an impacton the fishery would be maintained or perhaps increased. winter flounder resource. Others attributed the Iluc- It was never conclusively demonstrated that hatch- tuations in flounder abundanceto a natural phenom- ery production influenced commercial fishery enon regulated by changes in temperature and other landings,and the hatchery closed in thc late 1930s. cnvironmcntal variables Jeffries and Johnson That a single, small hatchery had little impact on 1974!. There was plenty of discussion but liitlc the numbers of young flounde developingin our «grccment. No onc could even say for sure whether coastalwaters is really no surprise, We now know that, in addition to the vast numbers of young flounder produced in Narragansett Bay and its estuaries,millions arc produced in our coastal ponds each year. Nature has provided hcr own hatcheries. The quantitics produced by the hatchery in Wickford pale in comparison to nature's efforts.
F Table 1. Characteristicsof thefour RhodeIsland studyponds and their watersheds. Point Judith Potter Nlnlgret Green Hill Ponds: Hectares 638 137 713 180 Average depth meters! 2 1.2 1.2 0.8 Average salinity o/oo! 29 28 28 24 Breachway dimensions meters! width 50 7 34 depth 8 1.5 2 Watersheds 980!: Hectares 2245 1068 3058 1700 Land use '%%d! developed 34,6 21.5 16 28 agricultural 3.9 10.4 3.2 5 woodland/open space 54.9 63 66.1 65 conservation 1.7 15 2 houses 2028 755 1215 1223 projected houses at full development 6828 1902 4816 3850 Freshwater input 0' rn'/yr! 25.3 5 15 6.8 HABITS OF COASTAL POND WINTER FLOUNDER The winter flounder, Pseudopleuronecresameri- diameter. As the eggs are developing in the fe- canus also known locally as blackback or simply males, the bellies of males also become distended "flounder" !, is a cold-water species with a special from the swelling of maturinginilt sacs.By mid- ability to withstand near-freezing temperatures. February,the gonadsof both sexesare fully devel- During winter months,these fish producewithin oped,but the energeticcost of this developmentto their tissues an organic antifreeze compound other tissues is apparent in the skinny and flaccid similar to glycoproteinsfound in certainspecies of quality of the musculature.A fillet from a fish in Antarctic fish Duman and deVries 1974!. This this condition is of noticeably poorer quality than antifreeze lowers the freezing point of a fish's body one from a fish ol' siinilar size captured the previous fluids and allows it to live in waters that would kill fall. species without this protection, Although excep- tions to the following accourit are known to occur Spawning and early life history due to vagaries in water temperature and other Spawning usually takes place in February and natural phenomena, the life habits of winter floun- March, frequently in brackish areas. Spawning is der inhabiting Rhode Island's coastal ponds can be thoughtto occur at rught. Unlike eggsof most other generalized as follows Bigelow and Schroeder flatfishes, winter flounder eggs are more dense than 1953; Klein-MacPhee 1978!. seawater and sink to the bottom rather than floating near the surface. The eggs are sticky and clump Preparation for spawning season together on whatever surface they land on. Those During September, as water temperatures cool, eggsthat fall into soft, fine sedimentsare less likely adult flounder enter Rhode Island's coastal ponds. to develop becausepoor water circulation in the Often the first arrivals arc males, with females sediment results in a lack of oxygen for the embryo. arriving in October. Flounder arc cxtremcly adapt- Eggs hatch about two or three weeks after able in their eating habits, and the abundance and spawning, when water temperatures in the pond are diversity of food organisms in these productive typically between 3' and 5'C 7-41'F!. Newly estuaries put large amounts of energy for growth hatched larvae are only about 3.2 mm ,13 inch! readily at hand. The fish expend little energy forag- long. They drift in the plankton for about a month, ing and their utilization of these food resourcesis upright, with one eye on each side of the head like highly efficient and productive. During this period other fishes. At the end of that month, when they of active feeding, winter flounder in the ponds are are about 6 mrn .25 inch! long, there is loss of vulnerable to fishermen who catch them with baited pigmenton the left sideof the body and the left eye hooks or trap them in nets, migrates to the right side of the head. The fish now In cold Decernbcrwaters, thc fish ceasefeeding become horizontally oriented as flatfish and are no and spend an increasing amount of time lying longer planktonic. They have becornc bottom inactive on soft sediments, They are no longer easy dwellers and by the end of their second inonth to catch, and fishing activity also ceases.During resemble the adult form Figure 4!. this period, the life processesof the fish are sus- During this time the post-spawning adults tained by energy reserves stored in their tissues. resume feeding, The warming water stimulates the Winter is the breeding season for this cold-water growth of food organisms and the fish rapidly species, and even though the fish are not feeding, restore their body tissues. i.heirgonads continue to develop in preparation for Summer water temperatures in shallower areas spawning. of coastalponds can be lethal to adult winter Beneath the frozen surface of the coastal ponds, flounder. By May and June, many of these fattened approximately half a million eggs in each large, fish leave the ponds and return to the cool summer sexually mature female winter flounder develop waters of Rhode Island and Block Island sounds, into tiny spheres about 0,6 mm .02 inch! in where they continue to grow. They are once again vulnerable to fisheries and many are captured in the to 5 inches!long. They continuetheir rapid nets of inshore draggers as the fish move offshore. growth until cold watersdiminish their activity for Becauseyoung fish areinorc tolerantof warmer the winter. Also in September, the first adults return temperatures, they inay reinain in the ponds froin their offshore summer grounds. their gonads throughout their first year or two. However, during already developing in preparation for the upcoming the warmest portion of the summer they can survive breeding season.With very few exceptions, these only in the cooler, well-flushed waters of deeper fish return to the saine pond in which they spawned . basins and channels. The coolest basins may also in previous years Perlmutter 1947; Saila 1962!. support a small population of adulLsthat remain in Fishermen have been aware of these movements some ponds throughout the year. In certain estuar- of coastal pond winter flounder for as long as the ies, these cooler areas are limited or unavailable ponds have been fished probably since before and the quality of the estuary as a winter flounder recorded history, The recreational fishery there is nursery habitat is therefore diminished. Occasion- relatively new, in comparison, but today constitutes ally, a usually suitable nursery ground will become a most popular activity. The flounder's habit of too warm. Fish that are trapped there may die if entering the ponds in the fall ineans that this delec- they cannot find their way to cooler waters. table species is plentiful and accessible when other By Scptcmbcr, young flounde are 7.5 to 12.5 cm fish species have left our waters for warmer seas. Fig Ure 4. Winterflounder, Pseudopleuroncctcsamcricanus. From< Bigelow and Schroeder 953!. Drawing by /LL, Todd, COASTAL POND WINTER FLOUNDER FISHERIES Prior to the existenceof permanentbreachways numberof person-hoursper day, Fishing effort was and channels into Point Judith and Ninigret ponds, about20 percenthigher on weekenddays than on winter floundercould enteronly when the barrier weekdays Figure 5!, beach had been breached, whether through natural As noted above, Smith and McConnell 980! eventsor by plow and shovel.These early unstabi- estimated that more than half of the annual catch of lized channels were sometimes broad and deep, all speciestaken in Point JudithPond in 1978was makingthem difficult to fish and allowing flounder takenduring April andMay. We recordedthat to passrelatively unnoticed.At other timesthe fishing effort during thesemonths was centered channels were shallow enough for flounder to be near the Narrows Figure 6! and made up only easily spearedas they passedthrough on their way about 10 percentof that pond's annualrecreational into or out af the ponds.Fishermen in skiffs drifting fishing effort, Thus a minorportion of the fishing in the channels or across the flats wou1d fill barrels effort resulted in a major portion of the catch. with flounder they had spearedwith long-handled "gigs," This practice is now rarely seenon the tidal deltas of Ninigret, Green Hill, and Potter ponds, a sharpcontrast to thosedays a centuryago when pond flounderwere salted and exported to Jamaica atid Haiti Lec 1980!.In the deeperparts of the ponds, flounder were also captured in trap nets and haul seines,activities that occupiedseveral "gangs" lo4 2 of commercial fishermen who relied on the bounty of the ponds for their livelihood Lee 1980!. Recreational fishery Today, flounder are taken by hook and line in a very popular recreational fishery and also by otter o ' trawls andfyke nets in a smallcommercial fishery. CL 10 According to a URI study Smith and McConnell 0 1980!, recreational fishermen made over 30,000 8 fishing trips on Point Judith,Potter, Ninigret and co GreenHill pondsbetween April 1978and January 1979. They caught more than 60,000 flounder Z IJJ about 30,000 pounds!, and most of these were C9 landed in April and May. The recreational fishery attracted people from more than five states and IX2 their efforts were apportioned fairly evenly bctwecn the two pairs of ponds. During another recreational fishery survey of the I'our coastal ponds conducted between March and 0 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 September 1979, we noted that the average daily HOUR OF DAY recreational fishing effort for winter flounder ex- pressedas number of person-hoursfished each day Flgule 5. Daily paaern of recreationalboaom fishing plus or minus the standard deviation! was similar egort on two RhodeIsland coastalponds between for Point Judith and Ninigret ponds: 58 +355 and March and SeptemberI979, expressedas the average 50+&01, respectively. The large standard devia- numberof peopleobserved boaom-fishing relative to tions indicate large day-to-day variability in the the hour of the day, bg O IA LQ LD C9 O 09 LO OJ O Q 'U CU tD 'oo o CPJ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 v I I I I I I I C ~ O cd «a o O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 M D CIJo Q «a o 0 L 'aoM ca cn O cd M~ cA 0 0 C CO 0 O O c~ «a 0 Z! cd 0 ~ ~ OJ CIA g! e CL 'o o.g an Q M «n O 4 O CL~ O ea E N cd ' co " O o an «a L « L o cd 0 0 O O O CO 0 0 0 g g! c0 cU e 004 M C4 O 000 an o U cd C O Q! F! CU ~ O v O' OJ ~ v Q D Enn Q an 0 0 O Q O ~ g S 4 0 0 gj CO ~2 D! 'C ea vO 2 4 Ocd cd I I I I I I I I cled O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 aIoo 2o O cd vJ,o O O 0 a! 4g c~ bn v CV O 0 CV O P M cd tD '4 g L O. 'O O «a There was a decline in Point Judith Pond land- declined 5 person-hours per day!. In thc fall, a ings during the summer Table 2!, a seasonal effect substantial proportion of the catch was taken in the reflecting the behavior of this cold-water species. channel, especially when fish passedthrough on By July, fishing effort near the Narrows had their way into Ninigret and Green Hill ponds and declined to less than I percent, Most of the few the weather was comfortable for the campers who flounder taken in the surniner werc caught in the frequented the area. cooler, southern portion of thc pond, This summer decline was less severe in Ninigrct Commercial fishery Pond because flounder remain in its cool, tidally During the 1970s, the Ninigret Pond commercial flushed central basin throughout the year Worobec fishery consisted largely of the efforts of two indi- 1982!. Recreational fishing effort in this pond was viduals who exhibited a reinarkable degree of largely confined to this basin near the Narrows and awarenessand adaptability to the available re- the brcachway channel Figure 7a!. sources. They trawled for flounder in the spring and In the spring, fishing effort in Ninigrct Pond fall and used other methods to fish for other species was 135 person-hours per day. During the summer, as well. Although they were competitors in the the channel was the most popular area about 35 highly restricted physical confines of small trawl- person-hours per day! while effort in thc basin able grounds Figure 7b!, they respectedeach other's rights of accessto the resource. This mutual respect avoided the sort of competition that could have resulted in fishing too many hours per day in a contest for the larger catch, Each man landed only what he knew he could satisfactorily handle in order to bring a high-quality product to market. Because both men were active in three or four inshore fisheries, their annual efforts directed at flounder varied with the abundance and economic potential of the various resources available to them. For example, in 1977 they had an excellent floun- der harvest of approximately 20,000 pounds almost 40,000 fish!. In the fall of 1978, scalloping was more profitable so they spent little time drag- ging for flounder. In 1981 the increase in the price paid for quahogs made it more profitable to shell- fish. During this five-year period, cominercial winter flounder landings fluctuated greatly, Figure 6. Popular recreationalbottotn fishing sitesin Point Judith and Pouer ponds. The study area for the 1981 winter flounder taglrecapture population assess- tnent is also indicated. Figure 7. Ninigret Pondfishing areas. a! Recreational bottomfishery; b! 1970sand early !980s commercial winterflounder bottomtrawl fishery; c! Studyarea for 1980markjrecapture winter flounder populationas- sessmenl. NEW KNOWLEDGE OF WINTER FLOUNDER BEHAVIOR The results of the Coastal Ponds Study, espe- The first step in evaluating whether winter cially regardingthose characteristics of our ponds flounderspawning grounds are at risk from dredg- that winter flounder exploit when they usc the ing operationsis to determinewhere the spawning pondsas spawning grounds and nursery habitat, groundsare located. To do this,we deviseda provide important new inforination that will be specialsled to surveyfor winterflounder eggs lying important in protecting the flounder. on the bottom Crawford and Carcy 1985!. As the sledis towed alongthe bottoin, a wing on its front Winter Ilounder spawning areas creates turbulence. This sweepseggs lying on the It is generally acceptedthat flounder spawn in bottomup into the waterwhere they arecaptured in "thc shallows" and deposit their eggs on algal mats a fine mesh net at the rear of the sled, The sled was or on firm bottom Bigelow and Schroeder 1953!. towedin manylocations in PointJudith Pond There are many areas within each pond that are betweenMarch 7 andApril 2, 1981 Figure 8!. candidates for such spawning habitat. If such From earlier work, we knew that the bottom in spawningareas were in locationsthat werealtered theseareas was of the type reportedto be suitable by dredgingor other constructionprojects, this as winter flounder spawning habitat. could seriously decreasethe amount of breeding During the secondweek of March we found habitat available and thereby reduce the flounder eggsin the upperpond nearthc mouth of the population.Fuithcrmore, towing scallopdredges in SaugatucketRiver, around a submergedgravel bar theseareas might destroywinter floundereggs if labeled on old charts as Rocky Island Figure 3!. thc scallop dredging season werc extended to This small bar has all the characteristics of a overlap with the winter flounder spawning season, suitablespawning habitat and was the only area an event that occurred in thcsc ponds in 1979. whereeggs were found at that time. Earlier routine FlgUI'9 8. Crosshatchedareas show locationswhere we searchedfor winterflounder eggsin Point Judith Pondin March and April l98I. Eggs were common in the northern portion of the pond near Rocky Island see Figure 2!. Thenumbers here indicate the location of samplingsites where we also sampledfor winterflounder larvae see Fi gure I 0!. 13 samplingfor ichthyoplankton fish larvae! at year.There are freshwatersprings that discharge severalplaces within the pond had revealedthat into the west basin where we found eggs. winter flounder larvae first appeared, and werc generallymost abundant,in the vicinity of this area, Distribution of winter flounder larvae We surmised that the area near this gravel bar was a If flounder arelaying their eggsonly in certain major winter flounder spawning site. areasof the ponds, we can ask to what extent the Two weeks later, we discovered a smaller larvae also remain in those areas. That is, are larvae spawningsite near GardnerIsland. Becauseof the alwaysmore prevalentin certainareas of the ponds, absenceof eggs in samples taken elsewhere in the or do the forces of the tides and winds act to mix pond,we concludedthat mast of that pond's winter and distribute them throughout each pond? The flounder spawning activity occurs in its northern answerto this questionwould be importantin the part. Sampling during 1983 and 1984 confirmed consideration of water quality goals and priorities this, for habitat protection. During studiesof the ichthyoplanktonin Nini- As a first approximation, Point Judith Pond can gret Pond between 1978 and 1981, we repeatedly be divided into a southern portion and a northern observedthe highestdensity of young winter portion,The southernporlion hascharacteristics of flounder larvae in the northwest portion of thc west a well-mixed estuary Licata 1981!. The dimen- basin Figure 9!, The gravel andcobble bottom of sions of its breachway and a typical tidal range of 1 this region of the pond is densely covered with meter feet! result in high current velocities and algae and eelgrass, prime winter flounder spawning thoroughmixing of water Friedrich 1982!.There is habitat. Surveys of likely spawning areas with the also a phaselag in the tides along a north-south egg sled in March of 1983 and 1984 found eggs transect from the breachway northward toward the only in the west basin. The largest source of fresh centralportion of the pond.This resultsin a tirne- water into this pond is at the head of Fort Neck delay in the timing of the tides progressingfurther Cove, but no eggs were found there during either up the pond away from the breachway. Flguf'8 9. Locations in Ninigret Pond surveyedfor winter flounder eggsin March 1983 and l984. Eggs were found in the stippled area in l984. 14 The northern portion of the pond, on the other Crawford and Carey 1985!. This prediction was hand, approximates a two-layered system where based only on the hydrodynamics of the system and brackish water lies on a wedge of denser, more did not consider the larvae's swimming behavior, saline oceanic water. The thickness of the brackish which may also tend to keep them in this portion of layer varies with the ainount of freshwater input to the estuary. As larvae grow they tend to spend ihe system, principally from the Saugatucket River. more time near the bottoin, away from the influence Freshwater flow results in a net seaward drift of of southward-flowing surface waters that would surface waters toward the breachway. Tidal current sweep them into the sea,! velocities are low, tidal range is low typically 0,5 We concluded that larvae hatched in thc north- meteror 1.5 feet!, and thereis little tidal phaselag. ern portion of the pond, especially north of the On two dates in the spring of 1981, we collected Narrows, would be unlikely to be flushcd out of tbc sainples of plankton hourly from six locations in pond during their period of planktonic larval Point Judith Pond during the 13-hour period of a development. This results in young flounder being tidal cycle. The six sampling sites are indicated by effectively retained within the estuary where there numbers in Figure 8.! We used fine-mesh nets that is an abundance of food and habitat for their filter small organisms from the water, During sam- development. pling, the nets werc lowered to the bottom and then The coinputer model also predicted i.hat 20 tidal niised to the surface again, ensuring that the entire cycles would be sufficient to sweep larvae hatched water column was sampled. The amount of water in the vicinity of the Gardner Island spawning site iiltcred each time was recorded by meters inside through the breachway. Larvae hatched in this area each nct, Thc winter flounder larvae in each sample would be less likely to be in the pond at the end of were later counted, and the counts were adjusted their planktonic period of development, according to the amount of water filtered so that On March 27 there were also significant num- samples taken at similar hours in different locations bers of young larvae in the Potter Pond channel. could be compared Crawford and Carey 1985!. But larvae did not appear at this sampling site in Thc results of these larvae counts are shown in any quantity until one to two hours prior to low Figure 10. tide, The fact that it took approximately four hours The March 27 collections contained winter of tidal flow for them to reach the channel suggests flounderlarvae that were only severaldays old. The that they may have traveled I'rom the hack waters of larvae were most abundant in the Narrows near the Potter Pond. Although we did not sample this pond spawning area discussed above, around thc sub- for eggs, we did learn that freshwater springs and mcrgcd gravel bar. Tidal influcncc in this portion of suitable spawning habitat are plentiful along the thc estuary is minimal; as a result, these recently shoreline of its deep norihern basin. Thcsc larval hatched larvae had not been displaced very far by collections suggest that there may also be a winter the tides. By April 27, there was a mixture of sizes flounder spawning site in this portion of Potter of larvae in the pond and they were much morc dis- Pond. pcrscd. These findings suggcstcd that hatching had occurredover severalweeks and that by late April Significanceof larval retention in coastal ponds there had been sufficient time for thc tides to dis- The conservative nature of certain areas of Point tribute older larvae throughout thc pond. Judith Pond in retaining winter floundcr larvae Bccausc each survey was brief, we could not rather than flushing them out to sea was most dircctiy predict the elfect of more than one tidal clearly demonstrated in the March 27 samples. A cycle on the inovement of planktonic larvae within month later, larvae in various stages of develop- thc pond. To investigate this question, we used a ment were well mixed in the lower reaches ol' thc computer simulation Licata 1981!. The model pond Figure 10!, and it was during this tiine that predictedthat it would take more than 10 daysfor the largest number of larvae entering Block Island larvae to be displaced from the Narrows to Gardner Sounddue to tidal flushing would haveoccurred. Island during a period of high freshwater runoff The survival of larvae that get flushcd out of the 15 2997 2864 2331 1998 1868 Q! 135 CL" IJJ 99 ee tQ 33 0 0 K IJJ Q IJJ cf STATI 630 850 1050 1230 1450 1630 1850 IJ O 418 IJJ 2r9 139 8 STAT I 83O e5o io5o 125O 145O 185o 193o TIME Flgut'e 10. yl'interflounder larval densities observed during two surveys on PointJudith Pond, March 27 andApril 27, 198l. Thoseobserved at Station 6 on March 27 wererecently hatched and werenear the RockyIsland spawning site locatedearlier seeFigure 8!. Station6 couldnot be sampledelectively in April becauseof high concentrations ofjellyfish whichclogged the nets. Larvae were not common there at thattime. "L" indicatestime of low tide; "H," timeof hightide. Note the diferent verticalaxes. Refer to Figure8 forstation locations. Figure from Crawfordand Carey I 985!. 16 ponds is thought to be greatly diminished. By and the pre-spawning season September through spawning in areas of the ponds away from tidal Novcinbcr!, when adults are entering the pond prior influences, winter flounder may be exploiting the to the next spawning season.For these studies most hydrodynamics of the ponds to help ensure that fish were tagged during the post-spawning season. their progeny are retained in these systems long In Ninigret Pond, the commercial fisherme~ did enough for adequate growth and development. not capture any marked fish outside the study area. Due to the tidal phase lag between Point Judith There were no returns reported by recreational Pond and Potter Pond, it is possible for larvae fishermen during that study, but this was probably leaving Potter Pond to become mixed with larvae in becausethe mark we used to identify fish was Point Judith Pond. There inay also be mixing and difficult for an untrained eye to detect. The corn- conservation of larvae in Bluff Hill Cove due to mercial fishermen knew what to look for, complexities of currents and phase lags caused by We used much more visible tags during the the constriction at the bridge to Great Island. We Point Judith Pond study. For the first few weeks have concluded that although flounder may spawn after tagging, tagged fish were caught in only two in fairly restrictedareas, larvae can get mixed areas: south of the Narrows in the study area, or out throughout each pond and between contiguous of the pond, presumably when fish were on their ponds. However, this mixing may occur morc way offshore Figure 1 la!. During the subsequent slowly than one would at first expect. pre-spawning seasonin the fall, most returns were taken within the study area once again Figure 1 lb!. Movements of adult winter flounder After being tagged, many of these fish had left the It has been known for years that winter flounder pond, spent two or three months in the sea, and then return to the same coastal pond they left after the returned. previous spring's spawning season.In fact, this But what about some of the other areas of the phenomenon was discovered in Point Judith Pond pond that are popular in the rod-and-reel fishery in 1937 by Perlrnutter 947!. He reported that the Figure 6!? Alinost all tags were returned from an majority of tagged fish he had releasednear Beef area where our recreational fishery survey indicated Island the previous spring were recovered by Point that only about 40 percent of the annual catch was Judith fishermen the following fall, Dr. Saul Saila taken.If taggedfish were randomlydispersed of thc University of Rhode Island recorded a throughout the pond, it would seem likely that a similar observation in Green Hill Pond years later few would havebeen caught among the remaining Saila 1961!. 60 percent of the catch that was taken elsewhere. In thc springof 1980and 1981,we surveyed For example, the popular fishing spot at thc Great Ninigret Pond Worobcc 1982! and Point Judith Island bridge can bc very productive. Only one Pond Grove 1982! for thc purpose of estimating small tagged fish was caught there and that was the number of adult winter flounder in each pond. during August. The fish probably never left the We marked or tagged scvcral thousand fish in each pond but likely sought out cooler water in the chan- pond during the course of these surveys Figures 6 nels at its southern end. There were no tag returns and 7c!. Anticipating the return of these marked from this popular fishing spot during eilher major fish to each pond the following fall, we asked the flounder fishing season.There was also a rccrca- coastal pond commercial and recreational fisher- tional fishery as well as a commercial fyke-nct men, as well as commercial fishermen working in fishery in PotterPond. No returnswere reported the sounds, for reports indicating the date and from this area either, although fishermen there were location of their capture of marked fish. also checking for tags. The bulk of flounder landings from Rhode From these observations, we concluded that Island's coastalpond recreationalfishery are taken winter Ilounder not only return to the same pond during two distinct seasons:the post-spawning but also return to the same general area of that season March through June!, when adults are pond. We also believe that Point Judith Pond fish leaving the pond for cooler waters after spawning, do not enter Potter Pond with any great frequency. Figut'8 11.Recapture locations, reported by recreationaland commercial fishermen, of winterflounder that were taggedin PointJudith Pond during a !98l populationassessment see Figure 6!, Tagreturns have been separated into twogroups; a! Springtimerecaptures taken during the time when adult flounder normally migrate out of the pond maximumtime since tagging = 54 days!,and b! Fall recapturestaken when the fish arenormally returning to thepond minimumtime since tagging = 95 days!,During the fall, twostrays were reported: one fish hadentered NarragansettBay and the other was caughtoff North Carolina. 18 Moreover, the abundance of winter flounder in this tiine, but the questionis worthy of future Potter Pond makes it seemslikely that these fish examination. If there is a separategroup of fish in conslitute a separatepopulation. Whether or not this area, their spawning activity could have been fish entering the eastern part of Point Judith Pond the source of larvae observed there during our underthe GreatIsland bridge are alsopart of a larval surveys Figure 10!. separatepopulation cannot be clearly deduced at CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL FISHERIES After wc considered all of the evidence we had In 1982, recreational fishermen argued that galhered during our five years of research, we Ninigrct Pondlandings were below normal, al- concludedthat much of the controversyconcerning though no data existed to either support or refute otter trawling for flounder in the ponds at the time their claims, We conducted a brief survey in the wc did our studieswas a resultof overlapof the spring of 1983, using the otter trawl wc used in our commercial fishing grounds with those of thc earlier resource surveys. We found an abundanceof recreational fishery. In 1979, when we monitored robust, well-fed winter flounder in the recreational both fisheries,we found the landingsof the two in fishing grounds,These fish hadbeen feeding on a Ninigret to be about the same about 10,000 to variety of food organisms, including worms and 15,000 pounds, The principal difference was that a crustaceans.Why these fish were not being caught recreational fisherman's typical catch was on the by recreational fishermen at the time was not order of two fish pcr hour while a draggcrman readiIyapparent, although we conjecturedthat they could land 300 to 500 fish per day, In 1978, Smith siniply were not tempted by the fishermen's bait. and McConncll 980! estimated that more than Reports from Point Judith Pond at the same time in- 12,000 recreational fishing trips were taken on dicated that recreational catches l.here were also Ninigrct and GreenHill ponds.The commercial below par, but we did not examine that flounder catches were much morc visible than the recrea- resource. Fishermen at Point Judith Pond also tional landingsbut the aggregatecatch of thousands arguedthat increasedcommercial landings werc the of recreationaltrips rivaled that of hc two dragger- problem,but againthere were no datato supportor mcn. refute this claim. RECENT CHANGES IN THE COMMERCIAL FISHERY During thc time of the CoastalPonds Study, the beenused and they havebeen sct ratherinfre- two trawl fishermen previously discussed ac- quently. The target species has often been white countedfor virtually all thc commercialfishing perch Morone americana!, less common than effort on Ninigret Pond,However, shortly after the winter flounder but of much highervalue. A large study ended, changes in Rhode Island's fykc- numberof floundcr areoften takenas well. A fykc- netting regulationsled to major changesin the net fishery is different from a trawling fishery coastalpond commercialfishery. becausefyke netsfish continuously,arc not as Fyke-nettinghas beenallowed for yearson affectedby eelgrassand algae,and can be usedin someRhode Island coastalponds e.g., Potterand placesotter trawls cannot.They are known to be far Point Judith!, but traditionally only a few nets have more efficient and effective in certainapplications. 19 Furthermore, because fyke nets are passive fishing ational fishery, where we had observed fish as gear,they are lessexpensive to operate,although small as 5 inches long in the catch. Fish in the corn- their purchase price is high. rnercial catch were generally not smaller than about In 1982, Rhode Island fishery regulations were 10.5 inches since smaller fish do not yield a fille of modified to allow fyke-netting in all coastal ponds. marketable size. This activity had beenprohibited in Ninigret Pond The decline in flounder landings also stimulated for many years. During the public hearing process the initiation of several new studies by the Rhode that preceded this change, the potential of the Island Department of Environmental Nirugret Pond fishcrics was brought to public Management's RIDEM! Division of Fish and attention. There was a subsequentincrease in otter Wildlife. Some of these studies were designed to trawling there as well as rapid expansion in thc learn more about the habits of winter flounder in fyke-net fishery. These events resulted in increased Rhode Island's waters and how winter flounder are fishing pressure for the Ninigret Pond fisheries. aft'ectedby fisheries Gibson 1987, 1989a, 1989b; After an initial period of relatively intense activ- Powell 198&a, 198&b!. Three ongoing RIDEM ity, the new draggermen assumeda more modest studies are focused on characterizing the finfish, level of effort in the Ninigret fishery. Coastal pond shellfish,and planktonresources in aII of Rhode trawling is made difficult by the abundanceof sea Island's coastal ponds; these 10-year studies began grass and algae, which must be culled from the in 1989. Results of some of this work have sug- trawling grounds for a profitable operation. To gested that the total mortality of winter flounder in effectively accomplish the job, a fisherman needs Ninigret Pond is similar to that for fish in Narra- an understanding of the currents in the pond. New- gansettBay; the estimatedmortality of flounderin comers without this knowledge may underestimate Point Judith Pond is lower. Total mortality is the the size of this task. combined effects of mortality from fishing and The increase in Ninigret Pond commercial from natural causes,! fishing activity stimulateda vigorousresponse from Another change that occurred was in regard to those who considcrcd the pond's resources threat- the peopleparticipating in the Ninigret Pond enedby overfishing.In 1983,otter trawling in commercial fishery, The two men who had previ- Ninigret Pond was banned on weekends and ously used otter trawls in the pond left the fishery prohibited completely within a managementarea soonafter fyke-nettingbegan. They explainedthat that included the Narrows and grounds immediately when it had been just the two of them, they had to the west. Fyke-netting was allowed to continue. found a wayto sharea resourcerather noncompcti- Throughout this period, catches of Rhode tively. The tranquillity of this arrangement was a Island's coastal pond winter flounder continued to benefit they neither overlooked nor ignored. But the bc perceivedas declining,Although this perception influx of fyke-netters and others to the fishery could have bccn tcstcd by repeating the type of stimulated competition for accessto the small angler survey we had done earlier, no data were resource. The serenity the draggermen had enjoyed collected. However, state and federal commercial was gone. They both expressedthe sentiment that if catch statistics indicated that there had been a they had to fish in a competitiveatmosphere, they decline in the number of flounder caught by the preferred to participate in a fishery based on a commercial fleet working in Rhode Island and larger resource where the potential reward was Block Island sounds. By 1989, these commercial greater. Both had been willing to sacrifice the "big catches had declined sufficiently to cause some payday" for steady, "hassle-free" work. But now fishermen to sell their boats and leave the fishery that fishing pressure had increased on the pond, altogether. they looked elsewhere for their living. In response to this decline, an 11-inch minimum In spite of the efforts to increase the catch of length regulation was imposed in 1986 for all of winter flounder, catches have not improved. The Rhode Island's winter flounder fisheries. This take in the Ninigrct Pond recreational fishery has regulation probably had more impact on the recre- declined to the point that fishermen are rarely seen 20 an that pond today. Those that persist are often spawninggrounds in the coastalponds, but it is highly skilled: the type who typically catch fish unlikely that the entire cause for the decline in whenothers do not. For example,in the springof landings of Rhode Island's commercial winter 1989, one individual speared"two bucketsful" of flounder fishery can be found in the ponds. How- flounder in less than three hours along Ninigrct's ever, the numbers of fish in the ponds have appar- rocky shoreline, when rod-and-reel fishing effort ently decreasedas well, while residential and was essentially nil. The trawl fishery there has also commercial development near the ponds have collapsed. In the spring of 1988, three tows through increased tremendously. Samples gathered by the the traditional coininercial fishing grounds pro- Pond Watchers citizen volunteers who routinely duced only one fish in a cornrnercial fisherman's monitor Rhode Island's coastal ponds! indicate that net. fecal coliform counts in certain areasof Ninigret The only Ninigret Pond fishery that continues to and Green Hill ponds have risen concoinitantly, consistently produce flounder is the fyke-net There is a suspicion among some residents that this fishery, and much of this activity is the result of the evidence of increased discharge of domestic effiu- efforts of a local high school class to leam tradi- ent into the ponds either directly or indirectly, via tional fishery skills. In general, fyke-netting on the surfacerunoff or in groundwaterpassing through ponds continues to be sporadic. When the nets are saturated individual sewage disposal systems! flags used, however, they continue to catch fish. an increase in the amounts of toxic agents entering We do not know the exact impact fyke-netting the ponds. The agents of concern include pesticides, has had on the Ninigret Pond winter flounder hcrbicidcs and components of modem exotic resource. We also do not know how many of thc household cleaners. These iesidents suggest that lyke nets were obtained specifically for the new domestic effluent and runoff have decreased the fishery or how many were relocated nets that had reproductive successof winter floundcr that spawn been previously used in other coastal ponds or in the ponds. To date, this assertion is unproven and estuaries. If the nets in the Ninigret Pond fishcry remains speculation. are new, they represent an increase in fishing effort What cannot be argued, however, is the fact that over Rhode Island's south shore. If the nets were since the days of our Coastal Ponds Study, Ninigiet previously in use elsewhere, their presencein Pond has changed. Recreational finfishing and Ninigret is a reallocationof effort temporarily cominercialtrawling therehave essentially ceased directed at the pond's resource to the exclusion of and fyke-netting has replaced them. Another re- the resources elsewhere. In either case, the earlier markable change is the proliferation of waterfowl, fluctuations in commercial fishing pressure on particularly the cormorant. During our study, it was Ninigret Pond due to the economic considerations cominon to find no more than onc or two of these of two draggermenhave been replaced by a more fish-eating birds on the pond. More recently, it sustained fishing effort since the fykc-net fishery would not be uncornrnon to count more than 50 of was established. them. This number of cormorants eats a large We do know that, during thc 1980s, the landings number of fish each day, If they are feeding in the of the whole state of Rhode Island's commercial pond, their predation on young winter flounder winter flounder fishery have steadily declined. could be significant. Moreover, during this time the catch has consisted To date, the only proof we have of a decline in primarily of cohorts of the strong 1978 year class the nuinber of winter flounder in the ponds is the fish hatched that year! fish that first appearedin declinein the catchof the coastalpond commercial thc commercial landings in 1982. There has not fishermen. The reduction in catch-per-unit-of-effort been a good year class of flounder in Rhode Island is a good indication of diininished abundance.Even waters since. without broader-basedindicators, there is general The reasonsfor this lack of reproductivesuccess agreeinentthat thereis a problemwith the number remain unclear but the implications are many. No of flounder in the ponds and that measurestaken to one knows what proportion of thc total Rhode change the situation have not had an appreciable Island landings are or could bc produced on the ef'feet. 21 It has been suggestedthat a 12-inch minimum minimum size may be in the future for Rhode length regulation is necessaryin order to give a Island's winter flounder fishery, it may take a while larger proportion of the spawning population an to reach the goal of the fishery managers. opportunity to reproduce before becoming vulner- A more iinmediate measure would be to exclude able to the fishery. Although this might be effect- the fyke-netfishery froin winter flounder spawning ivee, a large increase in minimum length one inch and nursery areas, such as Ninigret Pond. When is considered a large incremental increase! is this fishery was aUowed to expand in 1982, Rhode usually unpopular within a fishery becauseof the Island's winter flounder landings were at their immediate decreasein the availability of legal-size highest in many years. Becauselandings have fish in the population. In this case, the fishery might declined steadily since then, it is time to reconsider have to wait about one year for the 11-inch fish to the potentially devastating effects the efficient fyke grow an inch and become legal size again. A nets can have on a fishery. To allow their continued compromise would be to proceed in smaller size use in our flounder spawning grounds during a increments in order to minimize the economic period when commercial fishermen are going broke impact of fishery manageinent. So, while a larger is shortsighted indeed. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Flounder enter Rhode Island's coastal ponds to coastal ponds, and any modificaoon project must spawn in the winter, a time of year when most addresspotential impacts on the early life history of other inhabitants of the ponds are inactive and fish resources within these areas. competition is minimal. They lay eggs that sink, thus avoiding the ice that often covers their breed- 2. Within coastal ponds, there appear to be ing grounds, In places such as upper Point Judith relatively discrete spawning areas, and flounder Pond, the chances of their planktonic larvae getting appear to return to the same spawning area year flushcd out of the nursery estuarine system are after year. These important areasneed to be identi- minimal, and theseregions support most coastal fied and must be protected.Eutrophication in these pond spawning activity. All of these behaviors are areas is also a major concern, becausehigh summer special adaptations that enhance the survival of tcinperatures and low concentrations of dissolved progeny from a breeding season.These adaptations oxygen can stress not only young flounder but also exploit characteristics of our coastal ponds. We their food resources. must avoid deleteriously altering these characteris- tics if we are to ensure that our ponds thrive in their 3. Scallop dredging should not be allowed role as winter flounder spawning and nursery areas. during the winter flounder spawning season, since Some specific points to consider in this regard are: winter flounder deposit their eggs in localized areas anddredging in theselocations is likely to destroy I, Two winter floundcr spawning sites in Point spawning habitat and resources when eggs are Judith Pond and Ninigrct Pond are in areas thai. are pre senL apparently hydrodynamically conservative, a char- acteristic which tends to increase estuarine larval 4. Although we did not find evidence during thc retention time, Hydraulic modifications, such as time of our observations that typical Ninigret Pond dredging to facilitate navigation or to enhance commercial landings constituted a much greater flushing, may affect the larval retention characteris- proportion of the total harvest of flounder than the tics of these and other estuaries and could diminish recreational landings, this may no longer be the their quality as spawning and nursery habitat. case. The introduction of fyke-netting in that pond Hydrodynamic conservation may occur in many may have increased commercial landings. 22 our observations of the limited movements of as coastalponds, Also, coastalpond flounder flounder within coastal ponds suggest that it may be fisheries and landings should be more closely possible to temporarily remove a large portion of monitoredthan they havebeen in the past,and a flounder from a given area of a pond if sufficient record of trends should be established to help fishing effort is applied. If these fish had been sup- formulate future management decisions, porting a locally popular recreational fishery, then their removal could cause a short-term negative 6. Finally, before further attempts at assessing impactuntil flounder from other areasmove into the abundanceof winter flounder in coastal ponds the habitat. A more serious long-term consequence are made, the patterns of distribution of the groups would result if sufficient fish were reinoved by the of these fish in the ponds should be determined. fisheries to significant1y reduce the size of the Fish caught, marked, and released in an area tend to spawning stock so that the reproductive potential of stay in the vicinity rather than mixing with fish the resource was diminished. throughout the pond. A population assessinent made in only one area of the pond results in an 5. Because winter flounder landings in the 1980s assessinentof only the group of flounder occupying have consisted primarily of fish from the 1978 year that area. Such is the case with our assessments in class, the landings of winter flounder have steadily Ninigret and Point Judith ponds. In order to assess decreasedas the numbers remaining of that year the entire winter flounder population within a class have decreased.Management efforts to coastal pond, it is necessaryto establish whether protect spawning stock should be encouraged. individual groups are present; if so, they must be Accordingly, fyke-netting should not be allowed in assessedseparately. winter flounder spawning and nursery habitat, such CONCLUSION A winter flounder that a fisherman catches at his have a serious impact on the role of a pond as a favorite flatfish hole is there as part of a complex hatchery. In the past, such changes were made with life cycle with definite patterns and behaviors little regard or understanding of the part our coastal similar to the instincts that cause salmon to return ponds play in the maintenance of our exploitable to their horne streams to spawn. An awarenessof resources. this instinct in winter flounder provides a strong Now that we are becoming increasingly aware of impetus for thoroughly examining potential effects the liinited nature of these resources, we must be of alterations to our coastal ponds in the name of vigilant to preserve what nature has so abundantly "development." provided. The lesson of the Wickford flounder As we have shown, the consequencesof dredg- hatchery should not be forgotten: The natural ing new navigation channels, for example, might bounty of our coastal ponds is not easily replaced. 23 B1BLIOGRAPH Y Bigelow, H.B. andW.C. Schroeder.1953. Fishes of the Lee, V. 1980.An elusivecompromise: Rhode Island Gulf of Maine. U,S, Fish Wildl. Serv. Fish. Bukk 53. coastalponds and their people.Rhode Island Sea 577 pages. Grant, Univ. of Rhode Island, Narragansett, R.I. RIU-T-80409. 82 pages. Crawford, R.E. and C.G. Carey, 1985. Retention of winter flounder larvae within a Rhode Island salt Licata, D.M. 1981. A two-dimensional vertically pond.Estuaries 8 B!:217-227. averagedfinite elementhydrodynamic model for Point Judith Pond, Rhode Island. M.S. Thesis, Univ, Duman, J.G. and A.L. deVries, 1974. Freezing resistance of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I. 152 pages. in winter flounder,Pseudopleuronectes americanus. Nature Lond.! 247:247-248. Perlmutter, A, l947. The blackback flounder and its fishery in New Englandand New York. Bull. Bing- Friedrich, N.E. 1982. Depositional environtnents and ham.Oceanogr. Collect. Yale Univ. 11 !;1-92. seditnent transport patterns, Point Judith-Potter Pond complex,Rhode Island. M.S. Thesis,Univ. of Rhode Powell, J.C. 1988a. Winter flounder population assess- Island, Kingston, R.L 124 pages. ment: January I, 1987 December 31, 1987. R.L Division of Fish andWildlife PerformanceReport, Gibson, M.R, 1987. Preliminary assessmentof winter ProjectNumber; F-26-R-22, Job Number: VI-1. 21 flounder Pseudopteuronecresamericanus! stocks in pages. Rhode Island waters. R.I. Division of Fish and Wildlife Research Reference Document 87/7, 51 Powell, J.C. 1988b. Juvenile finfish survey: January I, pages. 1987 to December 31, 1987. R.!. Division of Fish and Wildlife PerformanceReport, Project Number. Gibson, M.R. 1989a. A study and comparison of wimer F-26-R-22, Job Number: VI-2. 19 pages. floundergrowth ratesin severalnorthwest Atlantic populationsfrom Ncw Jerseyto Newfoundlandwith Saila, S.B. 1961. A study of winter flounder movements, emphasison RhodeIsland. R.I. Division of Fish and Lirnnol. Oceanogr. 6;292-298. Wildlife Research Reference Document 89/5. 31 Saila, S.B. 1962. The contribution of estuaries to the pages. offshorewinter flounderfishery in RhodeIsland, Gibson, M.R. 1989b. Variation in size and age at Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst., Univ. Miami, Proc. 14th maturity in winter flounder,Implications for fishing Ann. Session 961!, pages 95-109. effects on spawning stock biomass levels. R.I. Divi- Smith, T.P. and K.P. McConnell. 1980. Marine recrea- sion of Fish and Wildlife Research Reference Docu- tional fishing in Charlestown-GreenHill and Pt. ment 89/6. 30 pages. Judith-Potterponds. April, 1978 January, 1979. Gordon, B.L. 1960. The marine fishes of Rhode Island. Dept. of ResourceEconoinics, Univ, of Rhode The Book and Tackie Shop, Watch Hill, R.l. 136 Island, Kingston, R.l. Unpublished report. 19 pages. pages. Stolgitis,J.A., J.F.O' Brien and M J. Fogarty. 1976. Grove, C.A. 1982. Population biology of the winter RhodeIsland salt pondsfisheries inventory, R.I. flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, in a New DepLNat. Res.,Division of Fish andWildlife, Fish- Englandestuary, M.S,Thesis, Univ. of RhodeIsland, eries Report 2. 61 pages. Oceanography, Narragansett, R.I. 95 pages. Worobec, M.N. 1982. Field analysis of winter flounder Jeffries, H.P. and W.C. Johnson. 1974. Seasonaldistribu- Pseudopleuronecresameri canus! in a coastalsalt tions of bottom fishes in the Narragansett Bay area: pond: Abundance, daily ration, and annual consump- Seven-yearvariations in the abundanceof winter tion. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of Rhode Island, Oceanog- flounder Pseudopleuronecresamericanus!. J. Fish. raphy, Narragansett, R.L 115 pages. Res, Board Can, 31:1057-1066. Klein-MacPhee, G. 1978. Synopsis of biological data for the winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectesamericanus Walbaum!. U.S. Dept. of Commerce. NOAA Tech. Report NMFS Circ. 414. 43 pages. 24 APPENDIX Listed below are seventy-six speciesof fish that have been found within Rhode island's coastal ponds during some stage of their life cycle, This list was compiled froin Bigelow and Schmeder 953!, Gordon 960!, and Stolgitis et al. 976!. Odontaspis taurus - Sand tiger shark Selar crumenophthalmus - Big-eye scad Mustelus canis Smooth dogfish Selene vomer - Lookdown Anguilla rostrata - American eel Seriola zonata Banded rudderfish Alosa aestivalis - Blueback herring Trachurus lathami - Rough scad Alosa pseudoharengus - Alewife Archosargus probatocephalus - Sheepshead Brevootia tyrannus - Atlantic menhaden Stenotomuschrysops - Scup Clupea harengus harengus - Atlantic herring Bairdi ella chrysura - Silver perch Sardinella anchovia - Spanish sardine Cynoscion regalis - Squeteague weakfish! Anchoa mitchilli - Bay anchovy Leiostomus xanthurus - Spot Osmerus rnordax American smelt Menti ci rrhus saxatilis Northern kingfish Opsanus tau - Oyster toadfish Mullus auratus - Red goatfish Enchelyopus cimbrius - Four-bearded rockling Chaetodon ocellatus Spotfin butterflyfish Gadus morhua - Atlantic cod Tautoga onitis - Tautog Microgadus tomcod Tomcod Tautogolabrus adspersus Cunner Pollachi us virens Pollock Mugil cephalus- Stripedmullet Urophycis chuss Red hake Mugil curema - Silver mullet Urophycis tenuis - White hake Sphyraena borealis - Northern sennet Strongylura marina - Atlantic needlefish Amrnodytes americanus - Sand lance Cyprinodon variegatus - Sheepsheadminnow Pholis gunnellus - Rock gunnel Fundulus heteroclitus- Mummichog Gobiosoma bosci - Naked goby Fundulus majalis Striped killifish Gobi osoma ginsburgi - Seaboard goby Menidia beryllina - Tidewater silverside Scomber scombrus - Atlantic mackerel Menidia menidia - Atlantic silverside Peprilus triacanthus - Butterfish Apeltes quadracus Four-spined stickleback Prionotus carolinus - Northern sea robin Gasterosteusaculeatus - Three-spined stickleback Prionotus evolans Striped sea robin Gasterosteuswheatlandi - Blackspottedstickleback Myoxocephalus aenaeus - Grubby Pungitius pungitius Nine-spined stickleback Myoxocephalus octodecimspinosus Longhorn Fistularia tabacaria - Bluespottedcoronetfish sculpin Hippocampus hudsonius Sea horse Cyclopterus lumpus - Lumpfish Syngnathusfuscus - Northern pipcfish Dactylopterus volitans - Flying gurnard Morone americana - White perch Paralichthys dentatus - Summer flounder Morone saxatilis - Striped bass Scophthalmus aquosus - Windowpane Centropristis striata - Black sea bass Pseudopleuronectesarneri canus - Winter flounder Lepomis macrochirus - Bluegill sunfish Trinectes maculatus Hogchoker Pristigenys alta - Short big-eye Alutera schoepfii - Orange filel ish Pomatomus saltatrix - Bluefish Balistes capriscus Grey triggerfish Caranx crysos - Blue runner Monacanthus hispidus - Planehead fiilefish Caranxhippos - Crevallejack Sphoeroides maculatus Northern puffer Naucrates ductor - Pilotfish