Recreational Blue Crabbing Information

Blue Crab Limits

	No Females With Eggs
	No Size Limit
	10 Gallons of Whole Blue Crabs Per Person, Per Day

Blue Crab Allowable Harvesting Gear

Maximum of 5 blue crab traps per person as described in the summary of blue crab trapping rules below
dip or landing net
drop net
fold up trap with a square base panel no larger than one foot square
hook and line
push scrape
trotline

Blue Crab Trapping Rules

Five trap maximum per person

Buoy must have a legible “R” at least two inches high, permanently affixed to it. Buoys are not required if trap is fished from a dock.

Trap shall have harvesters name and address permanently affixed to it in legible letters.

Traps must be pulled manually (not by a trap puller). Any vessel that is rigged with a trap puller will be considered a commercial vessel and the appropriate licenses will be required.

Traps must be pulled only during daylight hours.

Traps must not be placed in navigational channels of the intracoastal waterways, or in navigational channels maintained and marked by any county, municipal, state or federal governmental agency.

No harvest allowed with any trap out of state waters (seaward of nine nautical miles from shore on the Gulf of Mexico or seaward of three nautical miles from shore on the Atlantic Ocean).

A Florida recreational fishing license is required to harvest blue crabs under the recreational fishing regulations.

Blue crab trap specifications are the same for recreational and commercial harvesters. Trap specifications may be found in Rule 68B-45.004, Florida Administrative Code.

Can female blue crabs be harvested?

Female blue crabs may be harvested lawfully if they are not bearing eggs. Although it is lawful to keep non-egg bearing female blue crabs, it is a conservation practice to release them unharmed. There has been evidence that the females support the population of the species. Male crabs are capable of mating several times, but females are only able to mate once, after they mature. If a juvenile female is harvested, there will be no chance that she will be able to reproduce. Additionally, mature females may store sperm in their bodies for several months after mating in order to spawn at a later date. If a mature female is harvested, though she may not exhibit eggs, there is no certainty that she has spawned. Releasing female blue crabs enhances reproductive capacity and population renewal.