Collect Your Own Tropical Fish in Buzzards Bay Spotfin Butterflyfish - Cholmes75 image/Wikimedia Jamestown RI - The Gulf Stream makes a right turn into the mid Atlantic roughly 200 miles off the coast of Long Island. Storm driven eddies sometimes spin off from it and deliver warm water and tropical fish to the bays and sounds of New England. From July through September, divers explore the waters near Fort Weatherill State Park to look at and sometimes collect fish that have no business being there - fish native to Florida and the Caribbean such as butterflyfish and snowy groupers.  It's legal to collect tropical fish in Rhode Island waters because the fish will otherwise die when winter comes.  Here's the full story from Amy Farnsworth in the Christian Science Monitor. Add Comment (0) Hits: 156