Commercial Regulations for Permit, Florida Pompano and African Pompano

Commercial State and Federal Regulations:

Species	Minimum Size Limits	Closed Season	Daily Bag Limit	Gear	Remarks
Permit inside SPZ (see map below)	No commercial harvest inside SPZ				No commercial harvest inside SPZ
Permit in all other waters	Not less than 11" or more than 20" fork length		100 Incidental bycatch	Only incidental bycatch allowed outside SPZ when fishing with nets targeting other species in federal waters.
Florida pompano without endorsement	11" - 20" fork length		Direct harvest: 250 pompano trip limit Incidental bycatch with gillnets in federal waters: 100 pompano	Hook and line, cast net and beach or haul seine	Florida Pompano caught as incidental bycatch in federal waters must be transported through state waters without stopping.
Florida pompano with pompano endorsement in PEZ (see map below)	11" - 20" fork length		Unlimited	Gill and entangling nets, hook and line, cast net and beach or haul seine	Must have Pompano endorsement to use gill and entangling nets in the PEZ (Federal waters between Hurricane pass and Cape Sable in the Gulf). Must transit all harvested fish directly through state waters to land without stopping and must be landed within the PEZ.
African pompano	24" fork length		2 per person or per vessel whichever is less	State waters: hook and line only; Federal waters: Hook and line and spearing	No spearing in state waters

*Permit, Florida pompano and African pompano must be landed in whole condition.

Click here to apply for a Pompano Endorsement

Commercial Florida Pompano Fishing

Without Pompano endorsement

Persons harvesting Florida pompano in state and federal waters who have a saltwater products license with a restricted species endorsement, but do not possess a pompano endorsement, shall be subject to a daily harvest and landing limit of 250 individual Florida pompano.

Simultaneous possession of Florida pompano and gill or entangling nets is prohibited in state waters unless pompano were harvested in federal waters as incidental bycatch. Vessels carrying pompano harvested in federal waters as incidental bycatch with gill and entangling nets must travel directly through state waters to land without stopping.

Incidental bycatch harvested with gill or entangling nets in federal waters may not exceed 100 Florida pompano.

With Pompano endorsment

Persons harvesting Florida pompano in state and federal waters who have a saltwater products license with a restricted species endorsement and a pompano endorsement can harvest an unlimited number of pompano with gill and entangling nets in addition to allowable gear within the Pompano Endorsement Zone, south of Hurricane Pass and north of Cape Sable.

Florida pompano harvested in federal waters with gill or entangling nets must be landed in Florida within the boundaries of the Pompano Endorsement Zone. Vessels with gill nets and Florida pompano on board at the same time must travel through state waters without stopping.

Gill nets used to directly harvest Florida pompano in federal waters must be at least 400 yards long, at least 70 meshes deep at its shallowest point and have a stretched mesh size of at least 4 1/2 inches throughout.

Management efforts

In June 2011, the Commission amended the rule for permit, Florida pompano and African pompano to further enhance and protect Florida's permit fishery, while also strengthening management of the Florida pompano and African pompano fisheries.

To better manage permit for these different uses, the FWC created a Special Permit Zone, which includes all state and federal waters south of a line running due east from Cape Florida and south of a line running due west from Cape Sable. The remainder of the state (north of these lines) makes up another management zone.

In the Special Permit Zone, the commercial harvest of permit will be prohibited. Outside this zone no commercial harvest for permit is allowed, however, commercial fishers who are targeting other species with nets outside of the Special Permit Zone are allowed an incidental bycatch trip limit of 100 fish. In addition, the rules extend current FWC Florida pompano commercial gear regulations and commercial trip and size limits into federal waters.

For more information: