Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 90 - Marine Fisheries › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 1 - Definitions and General Provisions › Section 250-RICR-90-00-1.10 - Definition of Terms

Current through June 14, 2024
"Activity standard" means a level of fishing participation
					 used to establish criteria for the issuance of new licenses.
"Adequately iced" means the amount and application of ice
					 sufficient to ensure that immediate cooling begins and continues for all
					 shellfish. Ice should be produced from a potable water source and shall be
					 maintained to prevent contamination of shellfish.
"Affidavit" means a sworn statement of facts made under
					 oath as to the truthfulness therein, and made before an authorized person such
					 as a Notary Public. For the purposes of these Rules and Regulations, affidavits
					 must be on forms provided by the Department.
"Agent" means a representative of a licensed dealer with a
					 place of business in the State of Rhode Island wherein transaction records of
					 said dealer are maintained and available for inspection during normal business
					 hours.
"Air-assisted harvest" means the use of an air compressor
					 or any device capable of pressurizing air/gas or compressed gas in a tank, to
					 power any device designed to disturb the substrate, create a vacuum effect or
					 sediment displacement effect in collection of aquatic species.
"Anadromous fish" means any species of fish which ascends
					 rivers or streams from the sea for breeding purposes (e.g., Alewife, Salmon,
					 Shad).
"Angling" means to fish recreationally using hook and
					 line.
"Approved waters" or "Approved growing areas" means marine
					 waters of the State that have been classified by the DEM Division of Water
					 Resources as Approved Areas, fit for the taking of shellfish for human
					 consumption on a regular basis, in accordance with the criteria established by
					 the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) Manual of Operations. These
					 classifications may be subject to change as water quality conditions
					 dictate.
"Bait gill net" means a gill net not exceeding one hundred
					 feet (100') nor exceeding a mesh size greater than three and three quarters
					 inches (3-3/4") (stretched).
"Bay scallop dredging" means the towing of a bay scallop
					 dredge during the established bay scallop dredging season.
"Bay scallop seed" means a bay scallop with a bright, thin,
					 slightly curved shell with no foreign adherent, the shell having no
					 well-defined raised annual growth line, and the bay scallop being less than one
					 (1) year old.
"Beach seine" means a seine that is deployed from the
					 shore.
"Bill of lading" means an invoice which identifies a
					 shipment of fish, shellfish or crustaceans as to seller, buyer, source, type,
					 quantity and sale price.
"Bi-week" means a two (2) week period beginning 12:00 A.M.
					 on a Sunday and ending on the second (2nd) Saturday at 11:59 P.M.
"Bullrake" means any curved metal instrument or basket with
					 four (4) or more metal tines (teeth) which is customarily used to harvest
					 quahaugs.
"Bycatch" means marine species which have been harvested,
					 but which are not sold or kept for personal use and includes species that are
					 discarded while a fisher is directing his/her effort toward the harvest of
					 another marine species.
"Bushel" means a standard U.S. bushel, 2150.4 cubic inches
					 capacity.
"Catadromous fish" means any species which lives in fresh
					 water, but must go to sea for breeding purposes (e.g., American eel,
Anguilla rostrata
).
"Carapace" means the un-segmented body shell of the
					 American lobster.
"Carapace length" means the length of a lobster measured
					 from the rear of the eye socket along a line parallel to the center of the body
					 shell to the rear of the body shell.
"Catastrophic trap tag loss" means the loss of original
					 lobster trap tags in excess of the ten percent (10%) over-allotment trap tags
					 issued for routine loss, in which instance the original trap tags become
					 invalid and must be replaced in their entirety by catastrophic trap
					 tags.
"Circle hook" means a non-offset hook where the point is
					 pointed perpendicularly back towards the shank.
"Coastal salt pond" means a pond abutting a barrier beach;
					 some are periodically fresh; others are brackish or salt.
"Coastal salt pond channel" means a natural or man-made,
					 temporary or permanent waterway, allowing for the passage of water to and from
					 any coastal salt pond. Distances (in feet) describing the following salt pond
					 channel areas are measured from the seaward extremity of any channel to a point
					 measured in a northerly direction, or as specifically described herein.
Coastal Salt Pond Channel Distances
Pond/Channel
Town
Distance
Quicksand
L. Compton
750'
Tunipus
L. Compton
200'
Briggs Marsh
L. Compton
600'
Ship Pond Cove
L. Compton
200'
Long
L. Compton
400'
Round
L. Compton
250'
Nonquit (Puncatest)
Tiverton
1,800'
Nannaquaket (measured from the mouth of the
								  Quaket River to the eastern side of the Nannaquaket Bridge
								  abutment)
Tiverton
400'
Narrow/Pettaquamscutt
Narragansett/N. Kingstown
3,850'
Point Judith (measured in a northerly direction
								  from the mouth of the Point Judith Breachway to a line drawn from Strawberry
								  Hill Point on the east to High Point on the west)
Narragansett/S. Kingstown
6,000'
Potter (measured from the western entrance of
								  Potter Pond channel to the eastern tip of Gooseberry Island in Point Judith
								  Pond)
South Kingstown
2,800'
Card
South Kingstown
200'
Trustom
South Kingstown
500'
Green Hill: Potato Point (measured from the
								  easternmost point of Stevens Island in Ninigret/Charlestown Pond to the
								  westernmost point of Potato Point in Green Hill Pond)
S. Kingstown/Charlestown
1,800'
Ninigret/Charlestown
Charlestown
3,200'
Quonochontaug
Charlestown/Westerly
2,800'
Winnapaug/Brightman
Westerly
2,800'
Little Maschaug
Westerly
250'
Maschaug
Westerly
300'
Great Salt
Block Island
1,800'
Trim
Block Island
850'
Harbor
Block Island
1,000'
"Codend" means the terminal section of a trawl net in which
					 captured fish may accumulate, and is further defined as the last forty-five
					 (45) rows of meshes in the terminal section of the net.
"Colregs demarcation line" means the lines of demarcation,
					 as defined on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chart 13221,
					 delineating those waters upon which mariners must comply with the international
					 regulations for preventing collisions at sea, and those waters upon which
					 mariners must comply with the inland navigation rules. For Point Judith the
					 "Port" is to be all waters inside of and north of the southern end of the
					 riprap wall at Salty Brine State Beach so-called. The demarcation lines for
					 Block Island are as follows: the area enclosed by the breakwaters at Old
					 Harbor, and the entirety of Great Salt Pond so called.
"Commercial fisherman" means a natural person licensed to
					 catch, harvest, or take marine species from the marine waters for sale.
"Commercial fishing" means to take, harvest, hold,
					 transport, or off-load marine species for sale or intended sale.
"Commercial fishing vessel" means any vessel, boat or craft
					 employed in the harvesting of marine species commercially, which shall first be
					 declared with the Department.
"Conditionally approved waters" means shellfish grounds
					 underlying waters examined and found fit for the taking of shellfish for human
					 consumption on an intermittent basis, declared by the Director as conditionally
					 approved waters pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §§
										20-8.1-3 and
					 20-8.1-4. Such classification may
					 be subject to change as water quality conditions dictate.
"Constantly tended" means that a person setting a net shall
					 remain within one hundred feet (100') of the net at all times.
"Container" means any bag, sack, tote, or other receptacle
					 that contains shellfish to be held or transported.
"Control date" means a cutoff date for potential use in
					 establishing eligibility criteria for future access to a fishery.
"Crab pot" means any pot designed or adapted principally
					 for the catching or taking of crabs.
"Council" means the Rhode Island marine fisheries council
					 established by chapter 3 of this title.
"Crew" means a person, aged sixteen (16) or older, employed
					 for purposes of assisting in the operation of a commercial fishing vessel and
					 its gear by another person licensed to fish commercially pursuant to Part 2 of
					 this Subchapter.
"Crustaceans" means lobsters, crabs, shrimp, and for
					 purposes of this chapter, horseshoe crabs
"Cultured crops" means aquatic or marine animals or plants
					 that are in the location, water column or artificial conditions specified in a
					 valid aquaculture permit; or that have been taken by the holder of such permit
					 from the location, water column or artificial conditions specified in such
					 permit; or that have been produced by aquaculture methods outside the State and
					 have not been commingled with wild stocks that are in or have been removed from
					 the waters of the State. Appropriate bills of sale, bills of lading and proper
					 tags and all other applicable State and Federal laws and Regulations shall be
prima facie
evidence of the origin of cultured crops inside or
					 outside the State.
"Day" means a calendar day, or the twenty-four (24) hour
					 period of time beginning at 12:00 A.M. and ending at 11:59 P.M.
"Dealer" means a person licensed to barter or trade in
					 marine species.
"Director" means the Director of the Department of
					 Environmental Management or his or her duly appointed agents.
"Discards" means marine species that are discarded
					 overboard by fishers because their possession is prohibited by regulations or
					 for economic reasons.
"Disposition" means the intended use or fate of landed
					 marine species after leaving the dealer premises (e.g., food, or bait).
"Dredge" means a mechanical device that is towed behind a
					 fishing vessel and whose purpose is to collect shellfish from the sea
					 floor.
"Drift gill net" means a floating gill net that is floating
					 unattached to the ocean bottom and not anchored, secured, or weighted to the
					 ocean bottom.
"Dual federal permit/state license holder" means a person
					 who holds both a Federal Limited Access Lobster Permit and a State of Rhode
					 Island Commercial Fishing License endorsed for American lobster.
"Eel trap/pot" means any pot or trap designed or adapted
					 principally for the catching or taking of American eels.
"Exclusive economic zone" or "EEZ" means those waters three
					 (3) to two hundred (200) miles (five (5) to three hundred twenty-two (322)
					 kilometers) offshore which are under the direct jurisdiction of the Federal
					 government.
"Exit/entry ratio" means the number of restricted license
					 endorsements made available for each endorsement surrendered to the Department,
					 on an annual basis.
"Family member" means a spouse, mother, father, brother,
					 sister, child or grandchild of license holder of the transferor of a commercial
					 fishing license. Spouse shall include a person who is currently a party to a
					 marriage that was legally recognized in the State or Territory in which the
					 marriage was solemnized.
"February 28" means the twenty-eighth (28th) day in the
					 month of February or the next business day if February 28 falls on a Saturday
					 or Sunday or holiday for the purpose of application submittals and renewal
					 deadlines.
"Finfish" means cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates with fins,
					 including fish, sharks, rays, skates, and eels and also includes, for the
					 purposes of this chapter, squid.
"Fishery" means one (1) or more stocks of marine species
					 which can be treated as a unit for purposes of conservation and management and
					 which are identified on the basis of geographic, scientific, technical,
					 recreational, and economic characteristics; and any fishing for such
					 stocks.
"Fishery Endorsement" means the authorization for a license
					 holder to participate in a designated fishery sector at a limited or unlimited
					 level.
"Fishery performance" means properly documented commercial
					 lobster fishing activity; namely pounds landed and traps fished in LCMA 2
					 during the applicable qualifying period.
"Fishery sectors" means and comprises crustaceans, finfish,
					 shellfish, as defined in this section, each of which shall singularly be
					 considered a fishery sector.
"Floating fish trap" means a floating trap, weir, pounds
					 net, or any equivalent contrivance set on, in or anchored to the bottom or
					 shore, used for the purpose of catching fish.
"Fork length" means the straight linear distance from the
					 tip of the snout to the fork of the tail.
"Fyke net" means a conical shaped net supported by hoops,
					 which also utilizes a leader to direct fish to the net.
"Gear" means any device or mechanism other than a vessel
					 employed to catch marine species.
"Gill net" means a net used to catch fish by means of
					 meshing or entanglement.
"Grace period" means sixty (60) calendar days commencing on
					 the last day of February and shall only apply to renewals of licenses from the
					 immediately preceding year.
"Grade" means the landing condition of each marine species
					 (e.g., whole, gutted).
"Harbor of refuge breakwater" means the three (3) sections
					 of breakwater off of Point Judith in the town of Narragansett.
"Harvest" means the act of removing a marine species with
					 the intention of not returning it to the water.
"Hinge width" means the distance between the convex apex of
					 the right shell and the convex apex of the left shell.
"Incidental catch" means unintended harvest of non-targeted
					 marine species, which may be sold or kept for personal use, as established by
					 rule.
"Initial LCMA 2 LTA" means the initial (maximum) number of
					 lobster traps authorized in 2007 to be fished by an individual permit or
					 license holder in LCMA 2.
"Land" or "landing" means to offload marine species
					 harvested within or outside of Rhode Island waters for sale or intended sale,
					 or to secure a vessel with marine species on board to a shoreside facility
					 where the marine species may be offloaded for sale or intended sale.
"LCMA 2 lobster trap allocation" or "LTA" means the maximum
					 number of lobster traps authorized to be fished by an individual permit or
					 license holder in LCMA 2.
"Licensed captain" means a person who holds or held a valid
					 commercial fishing license issued by the Department.
"License year" means January 1 of any given year through
					 December 31 of the same year.
"Lobster pot" means any pot designed or adapted principally
					 for the catching or taking of lobsters or Jonah Crab.
"Lottery" means any of a variety of procedures used to
					 determine priority in the issuance of new licenses or permits in cases where
					 only a limited number of new licenses are available; such procedures having the
					 common characteristics of being verifiably blind, random, fair and
					 equitable.
"LTA transfer" means a change in ownership of a partial or
					 entire Department or NOAA Fisheries-issued LTA by a person.
"LTA transferor" means the license or permit holder from
					 whom an LTA transfer is made.
"LTA transferee" means the person or fishing vessel to
					 whom/which an LTA transfer is made.
"Marine species" means any animal species found in the
					 marine waters of Rhode Island, including but not limited to finfish, shellfish,
					 crustaceans, and squid.
"Marine waters of Rhode Island" means all tidal and
					 territorial waters of the State out to three (3) nautical miles from the
					 coastline.
"Mechanical power" means any source of energy or power
					 other than exclusively human power.
"Mechanical refrigeration" means storage in a container
					 that is approved by the Rhode Island Department of Health and capable of
					 cooling to, and maintaining, an ambient temperature of forty-five degrees
					 Fahrenheit (45° F) or less.
"Medical hardship" means a significant medical condition
					 that renders an active licensed person unable to fish for a period in excess of
					 fourteen (14) days, either as a result of the physical loss of function or
					 impairment of a body part or parts, or debilitating pain. Demonstration of the
					 medical hardship shall be in the form of a diagnosis and prognosis signed by a
					 medical doctor (M.D. or O.D.).
"Medical Incapacity" means death or injury that renders an
					 active license holder permanently unable to actively fish. Demonstration of
					 medical incapacity shall be in the form of a death certificate, or a diagnosis
					 and prognosis signed by a medical doctor (M.D. or O.D.).
"Netting" means a meshed fabric which exceeds eight feet
					 (8') in length or width including, but not be limited to seines, weirs, fyke
					 nets, otter trawls, and gill nets.
"Non-resident" means a person who does not present proof of
					 Rhode Island residency.
"Non-resident landowner" means a non-resident citizen of
					 the United States and owner of real estate in Rhode Island as evidenced by deed
					 filed in the Recorder of Deeds office in a Rhode Island town or city
					 hall.
"Obstructing the free passage of fish" means the blocking
					 of a stream, river, or pond so as to impede the passage of anadromous and/or
					 catadromous fish, e.g., shad, alewife, and the American eel.
"Offload" means to begin to remove, to remove, to pass over
					 the rail, or otherwise take away fish from any vessel.
"Open to the sea" means a coastal salt pond will be
					 considered open to the sea if any flow of water connects coastal salt pond with
					 the sea.
"Original lobster trap tags" means those trap tags
					 available for purchase to a Rhode Island Commercial License holder or a Federal
					 Limited Access Lobster Permit holder based on their lobster trap allocation,
					 including an additional ten percent (10%) over-allotment to allow for routine
					 trap or tag losses.
"Other endorsement" means the authorization for a license
					 holder or vessel to participate in a designated activity.
"Overfishing" or "Overfished" means a rate or level of
					 fishing mortality that jeopardizes the capacity of a fishery to produce the
					 maximum sustainable yield on a continuing basis.
"Party vessel" or "Charter vessel" means any vessel that
					 carries passengers for hire to engage in fishing.
"Peck" means one fourth (1/4) of a bushel.
"Permanently disabled" means a person who is one hundred
					 percent (100%) permanently disabled in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws
					 §§
										20-2-31 and
					 20-2.2-3.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership,
					 co-partnership, association, private or Municipal Corporation, or other legal
					 entity firm.
"Place of business" means a building or office located in
					 the State of Rhode Island where a licensed fish dealer maintains records of
					 sales and purchases which are available for inspection by the Department during
					 normal business hours.
"Polluted area" means shellfish grounds underlying waters
					 examined and found to be unfit for the taking of shellfish for human
					 consumption declared by the Director as polluted areas pursuant to R.I. Gen.
					 Laws §§
										20-8.1-3 and
					 20-8.1-4. For the purposes of any
					 criminal or civil proceeding instituted under this chapter, a declaration by
					 the Director shall be
prima facie
evidence of a polluted
					 area.
"Port" means any town or city with a harbor and docking
					 facilities where vessels can land.
"Possession" means the exercise of dominion or control over
					 the resource commencing at the time at which a decision is made not to return
					 the resource to the immediate vicinity from which it was taken. The decision
					 must be made at the first practical opportunity.
"Possession limit" means the maximum quantity of marine
					 species that may be possessed by a vessel or person per specified period of
					 time (i.e., day or week) regardless of the means by which the marine species
					 may have been taken.
"Pot" or "Trap" means any stationary bottom-fishing
					 contrivance or device made of wood, wire mesh, or plastic mesh, fished
					 individually or linked by a common line and generally baited; used to catch
					 finfish, crabs, conchs, or lobsters that enter through a conical or rectangular
					 opening where escape is difficult.
"Power hauling" means the raising or moving of fishing
					 implements including dredges, rakes, tongs, or other apparatus used to harvest
					 marine organisms from the waters of the State or the underlying
					 sediment.
"Quota" means the maximum weight or number of marine
					 species which can legally be landed within a stated time period.
"Recreationally fishing" means the process of taking marine
					 species by any means (e.g., hook and line, net, spear, pot, or powerhead) for
					 personal use and not for sale.
"Resident" means a person who has had his or her actual
					 place of residence and has lived in the State of Rhode Island for a continuous
					 period of not less than six (6) months. Proof of residence may include a Rhode
					 Island driver's license, voter registration card or a notarized statement from
					 a City or Town Clerk.
"Routine trap tag loss" means the loss of lobster trap tags
					 that does not exceed the ten percent (10%) over-allotment trap tags issued for
					 routine loss.
"Season" means a period of time established by Regulation
					 during which management Rules specific to that period are in effect.
"Seine" means any net used to catch fish by encirclement or
					 herding that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by
					 weights and its top edge buoyed by floats.
"Shading" means to shelter by intercepting the direct rays
					 of the sun to protect the shellfish from heat. Shading may be accomplished by
					 any means that effectively protects the harvested shellfish from direct
					 sunlight and prevents excessive heat build-up in the shaded area.
"Shellfish" means any molluscan species growing in Rhode
					 Island tidal waters, including, but not limited to, bay quahaug, ocean quahaug,
					 blue mussel, oyster, soft shell clam, bay scallop, and surf clam.
"Shellfish grounds" means all land underlying waters within
					 the rise and fall of the tide and the marine limits of the jurisdiction of the
					 State.
"Shellfish harvest tagging area" means the marine waters of
					 the State where shellfish are harvested (refer to
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/marine-fisheries/shelltag.php
).
"Shoreward" means that point or end of any net which is
					 closest/nearest the coast or the closest coastal outcropping.
"Sink gill net" means any bottom tending gill net that is
					 designed to be or is fished on or near the bottom of the water column by means
					 of a weight line or enough weights and/or anchors that the bottom of the gill
					 net sinks to, on, or near the ocean bottom.
"Shoredigging" means the taking of shellfish from shallow
					 areas or the intertidal zone of the waters of the State without the use of a
					 boat or SCUBA gear and when body contact is made with the bottom
					 substrate.
"Take" or "taking" means the process and each of the
					 activities in that process undertaken to remove the resource from its natural
					 habitat until the time at which possession begins.
"Temperature control" means the use of ice or mechanical
					 refrigeration, which is capable of lowering the temperature of the shell stock
					 and maintaining it at fifty degrees Fahrenheit (50° F) or less.
"Tongs" means any shellfishing implement constructed with
					 heads attached to stales (handles) and pinned at a pivot point to allow the
					 opening and closing of the basket mouth formed by the two.
"Total length" means the straight linear distance from the
					 tip of the snout to the end of the tail of a finfish species. All finfish
					 species' minimum sizes are measured as total length, except for coastal sharks,
					 in which minimum size is measured by fork length.
"Transaction records" means invoices or similar records of
					 the purchase marine species by a licensed dealer, which identify the boat,
					 license holder, the Rhode Island dealer name, and the date sold, species
					 landed, pounds landed, name of the seller, and license number of the
					 seller.
"Trawl devices" means any type of fishing apparatus drawn
					 behind a vessel which consists of otter doors and/or ground cables, ropes,
					 and/or netting, including, but not be limited to beam trawls, otter trawls,
					 Scottish seines, and pair trawls.
"Trip" means a fishing voyage beginning with the departure
					 from any port and terminating with the return to any port regardless of the
					 duration of time.
"Trip level data" means data reported to the detail of each
					 individual fishing trip.
"V-notched female American lobster" means any female
					 American lobster with a v-notch mark, or the remnant of a healed v-notch mark
					 in the end part of the right tail flipper adjacent to the middle tail flipper,
					 or any lobster which is mutilated in such a manner which could hide, obscure,
					 or obliterate such a mark, including a missing right tail flipper. A v-notch
					 shall be a notch or the remnant of a healed notch, with or without setal hairs,
					 at least one eighth of an inch (1/8") in depth. Any licensed/permitted
					 commercial fisherman required or authorized to mark lobsters with a v-notch
					 mark in LCMA 2 shall make a v-notch mark by means of a sharp-blade instrument,
					 at least one quarter of an inch (1/4") and not greater than one half of an inch
					 (1/2") in depth and tapering to a sharp point. The flipper to the right of the
					 center flipper will be examined when the underside of the lobster is down and
					 its tail is toward the person making the determination.
"Vessel" means every description of watercraft, other than
					 a seaplane on the water, used, or capable of being used as a means of
					 transportation on water.
"Water-assisted harvest" means the attempt to collect
					 aquatic species by using a water pump or pressurized water, or device designed
					 to disturb the substrate, create a vacuum effect or sediment
					 displacement.
"Week" means a calendar week, or the period beginning on
					 Sunday at 12:00 A.M. and ending on 11:59 P.M. of the immediately following
					 Saturday.
"Weir" means a barrier of interwoven twine, branches, or
					 other material used to catch fish.
"Wet storage" means the temporary storage of shellfish
					 (from growing areas) in the approved classification or in the open status of
					 the conditional approved classification in containers or floats in natural
					 bodies of water or in tanks containing natural or synthetic seawater; this
					 includes flow-through systems.
"Whelk pot" means any pot designed or adapted principally
					 for the catching or taking of whelks.