#1857719 - 10/03/2510:39 AM
Regulation Jurisdiction Question
MikeV
Member
Registered: 07/07/03
Posts: 2624
Loc: Old Lyme
I live in CT and keep my boat in a CT marina. If take my boat by water from CT to RI waters fishing and return as part of the same trip to my marina in CT, which state's fishing regulations apply while fishing in RI?
I ask the question in regards to black fish and black sea bass which are sometimes open in RI while closed in CT. If the answer is RI and I get stopped by CT DEP with CT closed season fish, will they accept a legal RI Bag in CT? I can/will document fish were caught in RI by taking a picture with my phone showing the time and coordinates/location when/where fish were caught.
Please shed some light on the confusion that exists on regulation jurisdiction for me and others on this site.
This question has come up before and the answer we got from Encon was the following if I can recall it correctly. When leaving Ct. waters and fishing in RI waters at that point it is RI fishery laws that prevail. But when you return home to Ct. waters then your possession catch must conform to Ct. fishery laws for both the Ct. in-transit and Ct. landings. The only way this can be avoided is if your boat is trailered from Ct. territory into RI territory and launched at a RI boat launch. Your fishing should be restricted to RI waters and you load your boat onto your trailer, with your legal RI possession catch, at the RI boat launch and then proceed to trailer your rig and catch over land back into Ct. This basically follows the Inland Fisheries practices for cross-border trips from Ct. to other states for fishing freshwater destinations. I think this is what is in effect for this situation now.
Buck explained it . And don't forget the area were CT, RI , and NY waters meet . Try duck hunting some day if you want to see really complicated .
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"Politically correct" was initially coined by Leon Trotsky to refer favorably to those whose views remained in sync with the ever-shifting Bolshevik Party line. This was important, as "not PC" people risked prison or death.
MikeV
Member
Registered: 07/07/03
Posts: 2624
Loc: Old Lyme
Buck and ecurB,
Thanks for answering my question. This is what I expected. It does beg the question if the travel were reversed someone kept black fish caught in CT water illegally (before October 10)and returned to RI waters the fish caught illegally is now legal. Common sense indicates that a fish should be considered legal or illegal based on the regulations of where it is caught at the time. Today's phone camera technology, enables us to take a picture that stamps the time and location of that picture. I'm going to pursue this. The current regulations defy logic. Any ideas where to begin?
It goes by where your home port is. You can leave from Ct. to Rhode Island and fish for Tog as long as their season is open but you would have to release them because they would be illegal to possess in Ct.
MikeV
Member
Registered: 07/07/03
Posts: 2624
Loc: Old Lyme
I understand the regulation. It still does not make sense that a fish legally caught in RI is illegal in CT the adjacent state. At the time they made the regulation I'm guessing that they they used the "short" mentality. If a fish is short, it must be released even if it is dead or dying. If people were allowed to keep dead/dying shorts, dishonest people would claim many or most shorts were dead or dying which would increase the mortality rate.
The difference is today's cell phone cameras stamp pictures with time & location. A person can prove where any photographed fish was caught.
I will try to get this sorted out before the spring
Mike, I wish you luck on this endeavor but getting anything changed in this State borders on the impossible. I have released numerous keeper tog in RI in the past two weeks fishing for sea bass but my home port is CT, can't bring them back. I understand your thinking regarding cell phone pics/coordinates proving you're in RI but who's to say you didn't catch in CT, drove over to RI, took the pics and came back to CT. Would be really easy to do where I live and fish - Stonington. Many of the places I fish in CT are less than 1/4 mile from RI line as well as the NY border. Would be a hell of a lot easier if the seasons in the three states were the same. Good luck with this, I hope you're successful.
MikeV
Member
Registered: 07/07/03
Posts: 2624
Loc: Old Lyme
I appreciate that it will be difficult to get a regulation changed. What pisses me off is that the objective of the regulation is to protect fish from being over harvested. There is no better way to prevent over harvesting of CT fish, than having CT people fish somewhere (RI) else. With technology today there are a number of ways that could verify the location of a boat. It's common sense that the CT DEP should be encouraging CT residence to fish out of state to reduce the pressure on CT fish stocks.
I should be able to get this done I will keep you posted of my progress.
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