Marine Fisheries Minimum Sizes & Possession Limits

Minimum sizes are measured for Total Length (TL) [TL is from tip of snout to tip of tail]

Rev. 11/13/2024

Commercial Fisheries

"Restricted finfish" indicated in red font.

Possession limits and open fisheries are subject to change. To participate in commercial fisheries a Rhode Island commercial fishing license and appropriate endorsements are required.

For current COMMERCIAL POSSESSION LIMITS call 423-1920

SPECIES	MINIMUM SIZE	SEASON	CURRENT COMMERCIAL POSSESSION LIMIT
American Eel	9"	Closed 9/1 - 12/31 for any gear other than baited pots or spears	No limit
American Plaice (dab)	12"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit
American Shad	NA	1/1 - 12/31	Prohibited in state waters
Atlantic Salmon	NA	1/1 - 12/31	Prohibited in state waters
Atlantic Sturgeon	NA	1/1 - 12/31	Prohibited in state waters
Black Sea Bass	11"	Sub-Periods 1/1 - 4/30 5/1 - 6/30 7/1 - 8/15 8/16 - 9/15 9/16 - 10/15 10/16 - 12/31	100 lbs/day
Bluefish	18"	1/1 - 4/30 5/1 - 11/15 11/16 - 12/31	10,000 lbs/wk
Cod	19"	5/1 - 4/30	1,000 lbs/day
Coastal Sharks- Smoothhound	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	Unlimited
Coastal Sharks- Non-Blacknose Small Coastal Sharks Group - Atlantic sharpnose, finetooth, and bonnethead	No Minimum	1/1 - 12/31	Unlimited
Coastal Sharks- Blacknose	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	Closed
Coastal Sharks- Aggregated Large Coastal Sharks Group - Silky, tiger, blacktip, spinner, bull, lemon, nurse	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	55 sharks/vsl/day
Coastal Sharks- Hammerhead Group - Scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	55 sharks/vsl/day
Coastal Sharks- Pelagic Shark Group - Shortfin Mako	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	Closed
Coastal Sharks- Pelagic Shark Group - Oceanic Whitetip	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	Prohibited
Coastal Sharks- Pelagic Group - Porbeagle, common thresher, blue	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	Unlimited
Coastal Sharks- Prohibited Shark Group - sand tiger, bigeye, sandtiger, whale, basking, bignose, galapagos, night reed, narrowtooth, caribbean sharpnose, smalltail, atlantic angel, longfin mako, bigeye thresher, sharpnose sevengill, bluntnose sixgill, blacknose, bigeye sixgill	NA	1/1 - 12/31	Prohibited
Coastal Sharks- Research Shark Group - Sandbar	NA	1/1 - 12/31	Prohibited
Spiny Dogfish	No Minimum	5/1 - 4/30	7,500 lbs/day
Summer Flounder (Fluke)	with Exemption Certificate 14"	Sub-Periods 1/1 - 4/30 5/1 - 9/15 9/16 -12/31	100 lbs/day
	without Exemption Certificate 14"	Sub-Periods 1/1 - 4/30 5/1 - 9/15 9/16 -12/31	100 lbs/day
Horseshoe Crab Bait Fishery	7"	1/1 - 4/30 6/1 - 12/31	60 crabs/person/day
Horseshoe Crab Biomedical Fishery	7"	1/1 - 12/31	Unlimited
Menhaden inside Management Area	No Minimum	1/1 - 12/31	Closed
Menhaden outside Management Area	No Minimum	1/1 - 12/31	120,000 lbs/day
Monkfish	17" whole/ 11" tail	5/1 - 4/30	4,900 lbs/wk tails or 14,259 lbs/week whole fish
Haddock	16"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit
Pollock	19"	1/1 - 12-31	No limit
Scup	General Category 9"	Sub-Periods 1/1 - 4/30 (fed quota) 5/1 - 9/30 10/1 - 12/31 (fed quota)	16,500 lbs/day
	Floating traps 9"	Sub-Periods 1/1 - 4/30 (fed quota) 5/1 - 9/30 10/1 - 12/31 (fed quota)	16,500 lbs/day
Striped bass	General Category 34"	Sub-Periods 6/11 - 6/20 7/9 - 12/31 CLOSED Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun thru-out	5 fish/day Closed Thur-Sun
	Floating traps 26"	4/1 - 12/31	Unlimited
Skate	Wing Fishery No Minimun	1/1 - 12/31	35,000 lbs/wk wings or 79,450 lbs/vsl/wk whole skate
	Bait Fishery Max Size 23"	Sub Periods 5/1 - 7/31 8/1 - 10/31 11/1 - 4/30	25,000 lbs/day
Tautog	16"	Sub-Periods 4/1 - 5/31 8/1 - 9/15 10/15 - 12/31	Closed
Weakfish (Squeteague)	16"	Open Season 6/1 - 6/30 8/7 - 11/8 All other times call RIDFW for details	100 lbs/day
Winter Flounder	12"	1/1 - 12/31	50 lbs/day
The harvesting or possession of winter flounder is PROHIBITED in Narragansett Bay north of the Colregs Line of Demarcation as well as in Potter Pond, Point Judith Pond,and the Harbor of Refuge
Yellowtail Flounder	12"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit
Atlantic Herring	No minimum size	1/1 - 12/31	Area 2: Unlimited Area 3: 2,000 lbs/vsl/day
River Herring	NA	1/1- 12/31	Prohibited in state waters Call DFW for federal bycatch allowance

Recreational Marine Fisheries

Species	Minimum Size	Season	Possession Limit
American eel	9"	1/1 - 12/31	25 eels/person/day 50 eels/vsl/day for licensed party/charter vessels
American plaice (dab)	14"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit
Black Sea Bass General Recreational	16.5"	5/22 - 8/26	2 fish/person/day
Black Sea Bass General Recreational	16.5"	8/27 - 12/31	3 fish/person/day
Black Sea Bass Party and Charter	16"	6/18 - 8/31	2 fish/person/day
Black Sea Bass Party and Charter	16"	9/1 - 12/31	6 fish/person/day
Bluefish	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	3 fish/person/day
Bluefish Party and Charter	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	5 fish/person/day
Cod	23"	1/1 - 5/31	5 fish/person/day
		6/1 - 8-31	Closed
		9/1 - 12/31	5 fish/person/day
Summer Flounder (Fluke)	19"	4/1 - 12/31	6 fish/person/day
Special Area Provisions: While fishing from shore at India Point Park in Providence; Conimicut Park in Warwick; Rocky Point, Warwick; Stone Bridge in Tiverton; East and West Walls (Harbor of Refuge), Narragansett; Fort Wetherill, Jamestown; and Fort Adams, Newport; anglers may possess up to 2 summer flounder 17 inches or greater in length as part of their fish possession limit. The remaining fish must be 19 inches or larger.
Monkfish (Goosefish)	17" whole 11" tail	1/1 - 12/31	50 lbs tails/day or 166 lbs whole/day
Haddock	18"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit
Pollock	19"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit
Scup Shore	9.5"	5/1 - 12/31	30 fish/person/day
Scup Private and Rental	11"	5/1 - 12/31	30 fish/person/day
Scup Party and Charter	11"	5/1 - 8/31	30 fish/person/day
		9/1 - 10/31	40 fish/person/day
		11/1 - 12/31	30 fish/person/day
Skate	No minimum	1/1 - 12/31	10 fish/person/day
Striped Bass	28"-<31"	1/1 - 12/31	1 fish/person/day
Striped Bass Circle Hook Provision: Required when fishing recreationally for striped bass with bait.
Tautog	16" Only one fish may be greater than 21" Max of 10 fish/vsl during all periods	4/1 - 5/31	3 fish/person/day
		6/1 - 7/31	CLOSED
		8/1 - 10/14	3 fish/person/day
		10/15 - 12/31	5 fish/person/day
Tautog Party and Charter	16" Only one fish may be greater than 21"	4/1 - 5/31	3 fish/person/day
		6/1 - 7/31	CLOSED
		8/1 - 10/14	3 fish/person/day
		10/15 - 12/31	5 fish/person/day
Weakfish (Squeteague)	16"	1/1 - 12/31	1 fish/person/day
Winter Flounder (Blackback)	12"	3/1 - 12/31	2 fish/person/day
The harvesting or possession of winter flounder is PROHIBITED in Narragansett Bay north of the Colregs Line of Demarcation as well as in Potter Pond, Point Judith Pond, and the Harbor of Refuge
Witch Flounder (Gray Sole)	14"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit
Yellowtail Flounder	13"	1/1 - 12/31	No limit

Lobsters, Blue Crabs, and Horseshoe Crabs

Minimum Sizes and Possession Limits

Lobsters:

THE POSSESSION OF EGG-BEARING LOBSTERS IS PROHIBITED. ALL LEGAL SIZED EGG-BEARING LOBSTERS MUST BE V-NOTCHED.

Harvesting by licensed residents only, all lobsters must be measured IMMEDIATELY. All lobsters measuring less than the legal minimum size of 3-3/8" carapace length must be returned immediately to the water from which taken.
Measuring: The carapace length is measured from the rear of the eye socket along a line parallel to the centerline of the body shell to the rear end of the body shell.

Blue Crabs:

THE POSSESSION OF EGG-BEARING BLUE CRABS IS PROHIBITED.

Harvesting by residents only. It is illegal to harvest crabs from sunset to sunrise. All blue crabs measuring less than the legal minimum size of five inches (5") from spike-end to spike-end must be returned immediately to the water from which taken. No person shall possess, take, or attempt to take more than twenty-five (25) blue crabs from any of the waters of Rhode Island except when taken by a scoop or crab net, trot, or hand line.
Measuring: A direct line measured from the end of one spike across the body shell to the end of the opposite spike must be no less than five inches (5").

As of 6/17/2024, bill H7440 removing the prohibition on harvesting blue crabs at night was passed by the RI General Assembly and signed by Governor McKee. However, the prohibition on nighttime harvest remains in effect through RI DEM’s current regulations. The proposal to remove the nighttime prohibition from regulation will be brought to public workshop in October 2024 for further discussion. Following the workshop, there will be a public comment period and a vote by the RI Marine Fisheries Council, with the final decision to be made by the DEM Director. For further information, please call the DEM Division of Marine Fisheries at 401-423-1923 or email DEM.MarineFisheries@dem.ri.gov.

Horseshoe Crabs:

No person shall harvest horseshoe crabs from waters or shoreline of the state during the 48-hour period preceding and the 48-hour period following the new and full moons during the month of May annually. No person shall harvest horseshoe crabs for commercial or recreational purposes on or within 100 feet seaward of Patience and Prudence Islands in Narragansett Bay.

Commercial: It is illegal for any person to harvest horseshoe crabs in Rhode Island for commercial purposes without a Multi-Purpose Commercial License and a Horseshoe Crab Harvest Permit. There is an annual commercial harvest quota allocated to the State of Rhode Island by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).

Recreational: It is illegal for any person to harvest horseshoe crabs in Rhode Island for recreational purposes without a Horseshoe Crab Harvest Permit. Any resident with a Horseshoe Crab Harvest Permit may possess not more than five (5) horseshoe crabs in any calendar day. Horseshoe Crab Harvest Permits are obtainable at the Division of Fish and Wildlife, Marine Fisheries Section.

For more detailed lobster, blue crab, or horseshoe crab regulations click here

Shellfish

Minimum Sizes

Shellfishing is prohibited statewide between sunset and sunrise.

Species	Minimum size	Season	Non-Management Area		Management Areas
Species	Minimum size	Season	Resident Limit	Non-Resident Limit	Resident Limit	Non-Resident Limit
Channeled and Knobbed Whelk (Conch) Busycotypus canaliculatus and Busycon carica	2 1/4" shell height	1/1 - 12/31	1/2 Bushel	Residents Only	1/2 Bushel Max 1 bushel/vsl	Residents Only
Bay Quahaug Mercenaria mercenaria	1" hinge width	1/1 - 12/31	1/2 Bushel	1 Peck	1Peck	1/2 Peck
Soft-shelled clam Mya arenaria	2" longest axis	1/1 - 12/31	1/2 Bushel	1 Peck	1 Peck	1/2 Peck
Oyster Crassostrea virginica	3" longest axis	9/15 - 5/15	1/2 Bushel	1 Peck	1 Peck	1/2 Peck
Scallop Argopecten irradians	No seed possession	1st Sat Nov - 12/31 Dip Nets 12/1 - 12/31 Dredge	1 Bushel	Residents Only	1 Bushel	Residents Only
Surf Clam Spisula solidissima	5" longest axis	1/1 - 12/31	1/2 Bushel	1 Peck	1 Peck	1/2 Peck

Contact Marine Fisheries

3 Ft. Wetherill Rd.
Jamestown, RI 02835
Phone: 1-401-423-1923
Fax: 1-401-423-1925
DEM.MarineFisheries@dem.ri.gov

dem.ri.gov/marine

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