FWC Regulations : Evolution of Each Regulation : Spotted Seatrout :

SPOTTED SEATROUT, CH 46-37, F.A.C. (Effective November 1, 1989)

· Designates spotted seatrout as a "restricted species"

· Prohibits snatch hooking and the use of multiple hooks when fishing for seatrout with natural bait

· Sets a recreational 14 inch minimum and 24 inch maximum size limit (one fish over 24 inches may be kept per day)

· Establishes daily bag limit and on the water possession limit of 10 fish per person

· Sets a 3 inch minimum net mesh size for the harvest of seatrout (the minimum net mesh size becomes 3½ inches on January 1, 1993)

· Regulates commercial harvest by dividing the state into three regions - East Coast (Florida/Georgia line to Dade/Monroe county line), Southwest Coast (Dade/Monroe county line to Pinellas/Pasco county line), and Northwest Coast (Pinellas/Pasco county line to Florida/Alabama line); season begins November 1 in each region and continues until October 31 of the following year for each region; harvest limits set at 70% of the average harvest taken from 1984-1987; a 500 pound daily vessel limit applies until 50% of the season harvest limit is reached, then a 200 pound daily vessel limit applies until the season limit is harvested; commercial harvest of spotted seatrout ends in each region when the 200 pound season is closed and no sale of native seatrout is allowed beginning when all three regional quotas are met until the following November 1

SPOTTED SEATROUT, CH 46-37, F.A.C. (Effective January 1, 1996)

· Prohibits all harvest of spotted seatrout in state waters from the Pinellas/Pasco counties line to the Florida/Alabama line in February, and in all other state waters in November and December each year

· Establishes daily recreational bag limits of 7 spotted seatrout harvested in state waters from the Pinellas/Pasco counties line to the Florida/Alabama line, and 5 spotted seatrout harvested from all other state waters

· Raises the minimum size limit for spotted seatrout harvested statewide to 15 inches total length

· Establishes a 24 inches total length maximum size limit for spotted seatrout harvested in state waters from the Pinellas/Pasco counties line to the Florida/Alabama line, and a 20 inches total length maximum size limit for spotted seatrout harvested in all other state waters (an allowance for the daily harvest of one fish larger than the respective maximum lengths applies statewide)

· Allows the commercial harvest and sale of spotted seatrout in June, July, and August only - a 75 fish daily vessel limit and a 15 inches total length minimum/24 inches maximum size limit applies during these months for all commercial harvest of spotted seatrout statewide

· Allows only the use of hook and line gear and cast nets for all harvest of spotted seatrout

· Prohibits the simultaneous possession aboard a vessel of any gill net or entangling net together with any spotted seatrout

· Requires all spotted seatrout to be landed in a whole condition, and prohibits the possession of spotted seatrout that are not in a whole condition in or on state waters, on any public or private fishing pier, on a bridge or catwalk attached to a bridge from which fishing is allowed, or on any jetty

· Defines "total length" for spotted seatrout to mean the length of the fish measured from the most forward point of the head to the hindmost point of the tail

SPOTTED SEATROUT, CH 46-37, F.A.C. (Effective August 1, 1996)

Replaces the November/December closed season to the harvest of spotted seatrout with a December through February closure - in Nassau through Flagler counties only.

SPOTTED SEATROUT, CH 68B-37, F.A.C. (Effective July 1, 2000)

· Creates two recreational management regions for spotted seatrout - the North Region includes state waters on the Gulf coast north and west of a line near the Pinellas/Pasco counties border (near Fred Howard County Park in Pinellas County), and on Florida's east coast north of the Volusia/Flagler counties border; the South Region includes all other state waters

· Establishes 15-inch minimum/20-inch maximum size limits statewide

· Establishes a five fish daily bag limit in the North Region and a four fish limit in the South Region (one fish larger than the maximum size limit may be retained)

· Establishes a February closed season to spotted seatrout harvest in the North Region, and a November/December closed season in the South Region

SPOTTED SEATROUT, CH 68B-37, F.A.C. (Effective July 1, 2006)

Provides that, for purposes of determining the legal size of spotted seatrout, “total length” means the straight line distance from the most forward point of the head with the mouth closed, to the farthest tip of the tail with the tail compressed or squeezed, while the fish is lying on its side.