STATE HOUSE -- Recreational and commercial sportfishing as well as other environmental and marine interests will be featured at the 3rd Annual Rhode Island Aquaculture Conference scheduled for October 8-9, 1998 at the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, in Cranston. The Conference's goal is to strengthen the importance of the ocean and Narragansett Bay, further educating the public's awareness of the benefits that are derived from aquaculture.
" 'Recreational Sportfishing and Aquaculture: Co-exsistence' will be the panel theme and is certain to produce lively and healthy debate among the panelists and conference attendees," says Rep. Eileen Naughton, the Warwick legislator who chairs the General Assembly's Aquaculture Commission, the principal sponsor of the conference.
The panel will consist of six members with Anna Minicucci acting as its moderator. Anna is an outdoor columnist for the Warwick Beacon and the Cranston Herald along with being a free-lance writer who has been published nationally in Fly Rod & Reel Angle.
In addition to Anna Minicucci, the six panelists will be:
*Brian Bishop, Director of RI WiseUse, who is an environmental writer and proprietor of Right Angler Flyfishing Club in Exeter, Rhode Island.
*Richard Colagiovanni, an outdoor writer, author, and an international fishing expert, who acts as an advisory member to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
*Charles Gricus, who is the Coventry Town Planner and a noted saltwater angler.
*Steve Medieros, a saltwater fishing columnist for the Narrangansett Times and also the president and a founding member of the Rhode Island Saltwater Angling Association.
*Gil Pope is the commissioner for the Atlantic States Marines Fisheries Commission and the proprietor of Gil's Tackle in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
*Dick Sisson, who is the Deputy Chief for DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Representative Naughton said that anyone wishing more information on the October conference can call Ann Marie Rathbun the Narragansett Bay Commission, which has organized all three Aquaculture Conferences. The telephone numbers are 1-800-292-8787 or 401-222-6680/TDD 401-222-6680. A conference brochure can be found at the Bay Commission's web site: The URL is http://www.narrabay.com.
In addition to the General Assembly and the Narragansett Bay Commission, other conference sponsors are: the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CMRC); the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM); the Ocean State Aquaculture Association; URI-Rhode Island Cooperative Extension; URI Sea Grant; North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce; and Taco, Inc.
