The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has updated its fish consumption guidance and announced a temporary fishing closure for part of the state.
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- Do not eat fish from Grills Preserve Pond in Westerly or from the Woonasquatucket River below Cricket Field Dam in Johnston.
- You may eat fish from the Pawcatuck River downstream of Burdickville Road only once per month.
- Upper Melville Pond in Portsmouth will be closed to fishing from May 4, 2026, through early July 2026 while RIDOH, DEM, EPA, and Roger Williams University study how PFAS chemicals accumulate in stocked trout. Lower Melville Pond will stay open but won’t…