C\ 



and adjacent to, the disposal area by fishermen from Sakonnet, RI. 



Sport Fishing 



There is no interaction between sport fisheries and spoil effects at the 



Brenton Reef dump site. The nearest sport fishing area is around the Brenton 



Reef Tower, a location which is considerably more turbid than near the dump site 



due to the closeness of Narragansett Bay and soft bottom at the mouth of the 



Bay. 



In general sport fisheries have less chance of impact from spoil than com- 

 mercial trawlers because a smooth bottom is not required. Bottom fish will be 



affected more than pelagic or surface fish. As an example of absence of effects, 



bluefish catches were good immediately adjacent to an active dredging and disposal 



operation at Conimicut Point, Narragansett Bay, In 1976. 



Ocean Quahog Fishery 



The impact on the ocean quahog fishery at the Brenton Reef dump site was 

 severe and direct. A large population was buried and fishing had to be cur- 

 tailed around the edges of the area because some clams were killed by shallow 

 burial or had foul smelling mud on their shells. The greatest problem occured 

 southwest of the site where highly polluted spoil from Providence Harbor was de- 

 posited at temporary sites. 



In 1967 to 1970 there was no procedure for closure of the area to clamming. 

 The Food and Drug Administration, Shellfish Sanitation Branch, now takes an active 

 role in monitoring and determining potential closures in Rhode Island Sound, and 

 would close an area no smaller than one mile in diameter if sediment from pol- 

 luted areas was being dumped. In the past the processers of ocean quahogs have 



